Sol Invictus
by toraffles
Summary: Even as she stormed through the world like an atomic bomb, Luffy knew she couldn't protect everybody with these two small hands. Of course she knew that. But... she would try. With these memories of that other world, by God would she try. Fem!Luffy.
1. Welcome To The World

_Please read note at the bottom._

* * *

**SOL INVICTUS**

**Chapter One: Welcome to the World**

* * *

Heat.

It was warm.

She did not hunger.

She could not breathe, but it was okay. She didn't have to.

Someone was singing.

Never had she been this content before.

She slept.

Pressure.

* * *

The darkness around her pulsed and pulsed and _pulsed_ as she twisted and turned and rearranged her body. The wetness in her lungs was beginning to make itself apparent, as it was supposed to do. She could not breathe yet, but there was no rush.

A _squeeeeze_ of her head and she was out, wet and pink and out, and oh, it was so free out here.

She smiled.

The remaining fluid was sputtered out with a little help from someone she couldn't see and then she took her first breath.

It was cold.

As if in tandem to her thoughts, a warm hand began to pat her down with a soft cloth before wrapping her up in another. She was lifted into arms that clutched with a strength only belied by the way they trembled.

"Come closer, my love... it's our child. Our daughter."

She knew that voice. It had sung to her often, had spoken softly of darlings and loves and dreams. She blearily blinked open her eyes.

Just a few scant inches away was the face of a woman, hallowed but beautiful. Sharp, tapered jaw line and high, thin brows and a straight nose. Her damp brown hair fell in waves framing pale cheeks and large, soulful brown eyes. The woman felt like _mother_.

The woman was crying.

_Why are you sad?_ she wanted to ask. _Don't be sad. Don't cry._

What came out instead were a series of snuffles, so she settled instead for smiling the biggest smile she could manage, her eyes nearly crinkling shut with the effort. She must have done something wrong though, because the woman began to cry harder, even as she smiled back.

"Look, she even has your smile."

Shadows shifted as a dark shape emerged from their embrace. "She's so _small_..."

She knew this voice too. It had spoken of revolution and apology and promise, of _I will make things better, I will change things, for you for us for the child._

"She's beautiful. Our beautiful little Luffy. Won't you hold her?"

The shadow flinched. "Emiko, I can't, not with these hands... I don't deserve—"

"Your daughter wants to be held, can't you see?" Luffy - _was that her name? But she was so sure her name was something else... And this name, Luffy, was one that she knew, she_knew_, but it was not hers, except now it was_ \- obligingly lifted her pudgy baby arms and made grabbing motions towards the cloaked man. "Please, Dragon."

Dragon - _and this name was one she also knew, but where, how? _\- hesitantly stepped closer and a large, tanned hand emerged from the dark folds of his cloak. A single finger stroked her cheek. It was warm. Her head automatically turned toward it and she burbled happily.

His stiff shoulders visibly relaxed and when the woman - Emiko, _mother_ \- pushed her to him, he reached out to cradle her properly.

"Hello, little one," he said to her. A squared, firm jaw became apparent from the shadows of his mantle and a gentle smile curled the corners of his mouth. She grinned back at him with toothless gums.

"See? Nothing to worry about..."

But even as Mother said that, shouting began to erupt from outside the wooden walls. Gunshots. Her eyesight was still limited to several inches, but something bright began to blaze outside the window. For a brief moment, the shadows underneath Dragon's - _father's_ \- cowl lifted, revealing a face that she had never seen with these eyes, but knew all the same: Monkey D. Dragon, leader of the Revolutionaries. He lacked the distinctive red tattoos, but it was him all the same, and she did not _understand_, this wasn't _possible_...

His smile dissolved like a wisp of smoke. "They've found us."

"_How_?!"

A chorus of yipping sounded from outside.

"Bloodhounds."

Mother's face was cast in grim relief. "That means they don't know about Luffy... Thank god..."

"I'll hold them off. Hide her." Father tried to push Luffy into Mother's arms, but the woman would have none of that.

"No, Dragon, let me! They might hesitate to shoot me, but _you_—"

"You're in no condition to fight _their_ soldiers, Emiko. Just focus on keeping the both of you alive." He settled her in the blankets collected at the foot of the bed, and turned to leave. Before he could, a pale hand shot out and grabbed the neck of his cloak. Mother leaned over her and tugged Father down into a desperate kiss.

"Don't die, Dragon. I love you!"

"I will try. I... love you too, Emiko."

With that, Father rushed out of their small cabin, a cloud of fabric billowing in his wake. Mother's blurry figure barricaded the door and turned to her, strained features coming back into crisp focus as she ran to the bed with a rifle in hand. She pushed the side of the bed frame until it was a couple of feet to the left of where it had been, and Luffy turned in her bundle to see what the woman was doing. Though her instincts demanded it, she carefully did not cry and fuss, because she had managed to gather that her existence was to be a secret from those who were shouting outside the wooden walls.

The woman had managed to scrape off a layer of the packed dirt floor to reveal what appeared to be an expanse of dull, grainy gray to her undeveloped eyes. A square slab of it was lifted up, and then another silver trap door, and Mother's hand disappeared into the darkness to fumble at something.

Light suddenly illuminated the inside of what Luffy now realised to be a hidden bunker. Mother grabbed her and the wet, lightly blooded sheets atop the bed and hurried down what had to be a set of stairs. The fabrics were discarded haphazardly on the floor but she herself was tucked carefully into a pre-prepared crib with soft blankets and stuffed animals and little infant toys. Luffy glanced around to see that the rest of the room was filled with boxes and crates and chests and barrels, as well as the looming, blurred form of a large dresser. Something that looked like a small kitchen was shoved into the back corner. The cabin above had been almost barren, but this place was filled to the brim, all of it probably food and clothes and other necessary supplies. If they were being hunted, she could understand the precaution.

Mother placed a bottle of something warm beside her in the crib and bent over her, shaking hands smoothing the blankets snugly over Luffy's body.

"Be free, my child. Be freer than your father and I were, freer than anyone else in the world." A dull crash resounded from the door of the cabin above. Mother tucked the blanket around her one final time, her movements soft but rushed. "Always remember that I love you now and will love you always. I will be watching you and your father from heaven." Cracked, shuddering lips pressed themselves against her forehead. "Welcome to the world, Monkey D. Luffy."

She could see Mother stand up, her rifle in hand, and run out to shut the metal lid of the bunker. She heard the stone slab being dragged over the opening, heard dull thuds that must have been dirt being kicked back to cover the discrepancies, the groaning of the bed being pushed back. For a few moments there was nothing. And then the ringing silence was shattered by a great crash and a scream, echoing through the underground like a nightmare.

Her heart ached.

It felt as if she'd lost something she didn't even get the chance to have.

Tears dribbled down her rounded face, though she remained dutifully silent. For the first time since gaining cognizance in this new world, Monkey D. Luffy cried.

Luffy was awakened by a banging noise. Temperamental tears sprang to her eyes as she grumbled at the interruption of her sleep.

Heavy footsteps thudded down the steps and a large man with wild salt and pepper hair came into sight. As he approached the crib, individual features became more pronounced, as did the moisture gathering in the crinkles branching from his dark eyes. She knew this face too - Monkey D. Garp, Hero of the Marines, grandfather of Luffy. _Her _grandfather. He lifted her from her bed and held her at eye level, studying her features with a grin. She gurgled and stretched out a plump little hand.

He laughed at this, deep and booming. "So even my stupid son can have such a cute kid. It must be Emiko's genes!" But then the outburst of mirth came to an abrupt end and the tears collected in the corner of his eyes suddenly spilled over. "That stupid, stupid idiot of a boy. If he had just come to me first... Trying to do everything on his own, and look where that got him!"

Luffy's brows scrunched and she tried to pat his cheeks dry with her palms, even as responding tears sprang to her own eyes. It hurt, to see a powerful man breaking down like this.

But his tears only came faster. "Dragon, you damned fool! How can you entrust your child to me, when I couldn't even protect you and Emiko? I'm so sorry I can't even look my own son in the eye!"

Luffy whined and her lower lip began to tremble.

"Ah! No! Don't cry!"

_How can you start sobbing in front of a newborn and then tell her not to cry, you dummy?!_ Luffy thought, as she bawled her distress for the world to hear.

They must have been quite a sight; a tiny newborn and a large, graying man, standing in the middle of an underground bunker crying their eyes out, their only bond gone off to wage war on the world.

Luffy tired first, her cries fading to soft breaths as exhaustion took hold of her once more. As she nodded off in the cradle of her grandfather's elbow, she heard him saying, "I swear to you, Dragon, I won't let Luffy's happiness be torn away like Emiko was. Even though I couldn't stop all of this, Luffy at least..."

The next time she awoke to the groaning of a ship's timbers. The sea sang a soft, rushing lullaby and the waves rocked her little crib in an attempt to lure her back to sleep, but there were more important matters at hand. She coughed in discomfort at her hoarse throat, and thought it strange, because she'd always been a very quiet crier before... before... before what, exactly?

This was not her first life, of this she was sure. She had memories of another, a place where supernations waged war with the energy of split atoms and the planet that sustained them was called Earth and perhaps both least and most important, such things called 'manga' existed, pictures and words that told stories of different worlds.

How could she be Luffy? The entire story was carried on the back of his charisma, his ability to attract people and their unfaltering loyalty. How could she possibly do such a thing? She had never been much of a people person, not anything near enough to even _try_ to emulate what Luffy was.

In her _Before_... The way she was Before, it had made her uncomfortable to be disliked, made her anxious, made life difficult, and so she usually hadn't been anything less than polite, pleasant, amiable, with a grin and a friendly word to share with those who approached her. But it had also been rare for her to reach out her hand farther than that hesitant wave, rare for her to attempt to deepen those bonds into anything more than friendly acquaintanceships. Because if being hated had been difficult, maintaining the close bonds that wrapped Luffy like a warm shawl could be soul-suckingly _exhausting_, the effort of making herself interesting for them, conversing about things that they would care to converse about, hiding the parts of herself than she knew would be scorned - it had worn her down to her bare bones. She and the greater part of society had always seemed to be out of sync, somehow, and trying to change herself to catch up every time she ventured outside had almost been too much to handle.

So, if nothing else, she had always admired Luffy's ability to be oblivious to everything he felt was unnecessary. He was led by his heart and his fists, and that was exactly what she had wanted in life, to be comfortable in her own skin, to be able to ignore all the derisive scoffs, to charge forth with only her own determination and prevail against all odds. That tough hide of his was a gift that she wished had been bequeathed to her as well.

And now...

Now...

And now she _was_ Luffy, though apparently a female version of him.

Then, perhaps... perhaps, instead of worrying and worrying and worrying that she couldn't live up to his character, perhaps she could instead see this as an opportunity to _be_ the fearless warrior that she had always wanted to be. She had the story line on her side, after all; the Plot Matrix wasn't so weak that a few different actions here and there would change the tale overly much.

She could be who she wanted; she _would_ be who she wanted. Being who she 'had to be' had hurt her, had killed her inside, had made her relieved about _her own death_, accident though it was. No more. She had a second chance, this time. She had a second chance to live her life the way she wanted to live her life, with her heart in everything she did, instead of bundled up in layers upon layers of protection. And this time, she was determined to _enjoy_ life.

Yes, she decided. She wouldn't just act like Luffy, she would _become_ Luffy - no.

Luffy would become _her_.

This was her life now, and so help anyone who said otherwise.

She was Monkey D. Luffy, and she would live life _her_ way, foreknowledge or not.

* * *

**Notes **—

Since the words 'self-insert' were turning a lot of people away, they were taken out of the summary because they don't fit the story well - the self-insert exists in the loosest sense: Luffy has received some of my memories (knowledge of the OP world) and a few of my traits that are common amongst people in general, such as the tendency to favour logic over brashness. Nothing else. The rest is all original Luffy in there (despite what she says above). If you can imagine Luffy being a girl, that is who I am writing about, not myself. Everyone will be in-character, and even those who have been affected by the changes to canon will react only such that their original character would have reacted to the same changes. :)

If you still can't get into it, _c'est la vie._

Sol Invictus means Unconquered Sun in Latin. It's also the name of the Romans' official sun god. There will be more genderbending happening with a few minor characters - domino effects are very much in effect. (The main characters will remain the same, however, so no Portgas D. Ann or Namizou to be found here.) I will go straight into the manga from here on, with potential flashbacks. Yes there will be romance, inasmuch as a character such as Luffy is capable of experiencing, and the gruff men of One Piece are capable of displaying. Reverse harem? Maybe... Possibly...

Yep.

(Edited August 2016.)

_[09/04/16: beta'd by my lovely darling waifu Beribboned!]_


	2. The Start of Something Great

**SOL INVICTUS**

**Chapter Two: The Start of Something Great**

* * *

"Bye-bye, Makino! Mayor! Mister Fish Monger and you guys! I'm setting off, everyone!"

Luffy stood alone in her little fishing boat, waving madly at the collection of villagers on the dock as she pushed off. She could see the tip of Dogra's turban peeking out from behind a wall a little ways away and grinned, glad that the Dadan Family had come to see her off, hidden though they were.

"Setting off to be a pirate! What would Garp-san say?!"

"Shishishi, Gramps can say whatever he wants! I've already decided!" She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "GOODBYE FOOSHA VILLAGE! I'M OFF TO BE THE PIRATE KING!"

"Good luck, Luffy-chan!" came the responding cheer. She smiled and sat down and began to plan her course. Unlike the original Luffy, she had not dismissed the offer of a small boat in lieu of a dinghy since she preferred to have more space for her supplies. Her stomach required a frightening amount of food and she didn't fancy being hungry out at sea, after all.

This also meant that she couldn't allow herself to be sucked into that huge whirlpool, because then what would happen to her precious meat? So, even though her navigational skills were subpar at best, she would at least try her best to plot her route.

"Let's see..." The compass was currently pointing in a southerly direction, and, according to the map, the island where Alvida was hiding out was to the west of Foosha Village. So she had to turn to her right.

Luffy stared at the sails attached to the only mast, confused. How were you supposed to turn directions with these things? Something to do with the rudder and the wind or whatever...

She gave that up as a lost cause and turned to the large paddles instead. She might as well face west and hope for the best.

The moment she managed to get the boat to point somewhere to the right, a strong wind began to blow in from the east, pushing her forward. According to the compass, she was going straight to Goat Island.

"Wow!" she said, laughing. "It really pays off to be me."

So Luffy settled down, grabbed a box of beef jerky, and waited.

* * *

Luffy's first sight of Goat Island was upside down.

She had gotten so bored that she'd decided to test exactly how far she could stretch by wrapping herself around the mast. This, she realized as she tried to untangle her limbs, was probably not a good idea. She shot out a freed arm to a tree and pulled, trying to anchor onto shore before her boat drifted away. She grinned as she felt the bottom of the bow sliding over grainy sand and vegetation, though she had to grimace when she heard a strange cracking noise. Stretching her neck, she peered over the ship's railing and saw wooden debris floating by on the ocean currents, and was that—

It was. Luffy winced and thought _sorry Coby_ as she watched the remnants of his makeshift dinghy coffin drift off. She considered herself lucky though, that the hull of her own boat hadn't so much as gained a scratch at the impact. What a hardy little ship.

The tree under Luffy's hand was not so robust. One last tug and the timber snapped right in half, and Luffy only barely managed to let go of it before the entire thing came flying at her face. Her arm whipped back to her and the force of its return unraveled the rest of her body from the mast. The resultant momentum sent her sailing through the air, fortunately in the direction of the island rather than into the ocean.

Luffy laughed as the wind carried her along, loud and carefree and exhilarated. When gravity finally decided to readjust its grip on her, she crashed through a flimsy wooden roof and her none-too-gentle landing was broken by something plump and squishy (had someone left a large cushion in the middle of the forest?).

"OW!" cried the cushion. "What the fuck?!"

Perhaps not, she amended. Cushions weren't generally so noisy.

When Luffy looked up, she was delighted to see a terrified Coby being loomed over by two scruffy looking men, though she wondered if there weren't there supposed to be three of these guys...

She peered down at the groaning mass of flesh underneath her and nodded to herself. That made more sense.

"An intruder!" the man with lanky blond hair roared, leveling a sword at her. "How'd you get onto this island? Coby, you pink haired little shit, did you do this?!"

As Coby stuttered out a negative, Luffy grinned. "Shishishi, I flew! Did you see that, Coby?"

The expression on the boy's face could best be described as horror stricken.

"So you _did_ sneak her in! Don't you know what Lady Alvida'll say when she sees?"

"N-no, I didn't!"

"Oh yeah? Then how'd she know your name?"

"You said it right in front of me," Luffy pointed out, highly amused.

The large man with dark skin cackled when the first goon growled. It was true, after all.

The grunt still under her finally managed to collect his wits around him and shove her off. "YOU BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Wait," Goon Two said, putting out an arm. "That'd be such a waste of a pretty face, don't you think? We won't have many other chances like this!"

Luffy, still sitting on the ground, blinked large brown eyes up at the three men as they leered, eyes drawn to the voluptuous view peeking over her red shirt. Coby, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, interrupted. "H-hey, I don't think that's such a good idea... Lady Alvida will be very angry if she f-f-finds out..."

"Just because you go around licking the captain's shoes, doesn't mean we have to! Just keep your mouth shut, and maybe we'll let you have her when we're done." They chuckled perversely and began to close on Luffy, kicking Coby to the side when he tried to interfere.

"Just sit still and let the big, strong men do the work, little girl." The tip of a sword was angled near her hat, the tip of it brushing against woven straw. Luffy's eyes sharpened when she saw that it was a hair's breath damaging her treasure.

"Hey, you." Luffy suddenly stood up, Boshi casting heavy shadows over her eyes. A slow, predatory grin spread over her teeth, and she tilted her head back to reveal wickedly gleaming eyes. "Don't touch the hat."

* * *

"Okay there, Coby?" The girl turned to beam openly at him, all of her white teeth on cheerful display.

"Y-you beat them!" It had been so quick, just two attacks and the three men had fallen silently to the packed dirt.

Coby gaped, amazed, at this strange woman-child who had come flying out of nowhere with nothing to herald her arrival but the straw hat on her head and a face-splitting grin. At first glance she had looked incredibly small and dainty and oh-so-breakable, with large doe eyes and an innocent kind of charm.

And then she had laid waste to the men who had tormented him for the last two years, bare hands against swords, and he could no longer ignore the lean, corded muscle layering her exposed arms and legs, the scritch-scratch of scars along her knuckles, the confident set to her spine and shoulders, the wicked gleam in her eyes that had sparked at a challenge. Despite how she looked, this was a _warrior_ \- a real one, not like those thugs on Alvida's ship.

"Ahaha, it's nothing to get worked up over. And," the grin turned to a pout. "I didn't like the way they were kicking you around."

"Th-thank you..." he said, touched. No one had bothered themselves over his well-being for a long time now. It wasn't much - anyone from the village he had come from would agree with her - but human decency was hard to come by on a pirate ship, especially one run by Iron Mace Alvida. Speaking of... "You better get out of here before Lady Alvida sees you! She's much stronger than these guys, she might even kill you!" Because Alvida detested any woman more beautiful than herself, and anyone whose appearance could be called 'pleasant' would fall very firmly into that category. This girl in particular was the antithesis of the pirate captain, and that would surely piss her off.

"Hmmm..." She wasn't paying him any mind, instead peering into the stacked boxes and crates with great interest. "Hey, are these... vegetables?"

"Wha—no, listen! It's Iron Mace Alvida! You're in big danger if you stay here, you have to go! I don't know how you got here, but I... I... I can give you a way out!"

She gave him a _look_, as if he was an idiot student and she the patient teacher. "And if I go, what about you?"

"Huh?"

"How are you going to explain them?" She gestured at the men lying comatose on the ground with a careless wave of her hand.

"O-oh..." Actually, he hadn't thought about that. But though the thought of a punishment beating made him quiver in his shoes... "We don't both need to face her. It's better if I'm the one who does that, since she probably spare my life but she'll really kill you. I've already given up on escaping anyway, so there's no point in me trying."

"Escaping? Hm, yeah, you look too wimpy to be in a pirate crew."

Coby slumped and felt her judgement weigh heavily on his limbs, but he couldn't really do anything about it. It was reality after all.

"It's true. I got roped into her crew by mistake. I... I'll never forget that fateful day two years ago... I just wanted to go fishing... And instead, I stepped foot on a pirate ship...!"

"You're an idiot, aren't you?" she asked cheerfully.

"Urk..." That was piercing to someone who prided himself on intelligence, if absolutely nothing else. He was probably the smartest person in the Alvida Pirates; even the captain had said that if not for his vast knowledge of the sea he'd be dead meat already. A backhanded compliment perhaps, but he took what he could from whatever was available, lest he spiral into further depression. "How _did_ you get on this island, miss?"

"I sailed here, of course. Ah, my boat crashed through this weird coffin thing while I was bringing it to shore. Do you know what that was?"

No way. Surely she wasn't talking about—

"Did it have two square paddles?!"

"Hm..." She tapped a finger to her bottom lip. "Yup. I'm pretty sure I saw those floating by."

"Ah..." He slumped even further. All his hard work, gone in an instant. Even though he wouldn't have used it, it still hurt to think about. "That was mine... Sorry, I guess I can't help you get away. But if you still have your boat you should be fine..."

"That was yours? It looked like a little kid got hold of a bunch of wood and started hammering."

Coby dropped to the ground in miserable defeat. "I spent two years making that."

"You don't look too upset for someone who's had years worth of effort being ruined. What was it for, anyway?"

"I was going to escape in it. But then I keep thinking about what would happen to me if Alvida catches me and I... I couldn't do it! It's impossible, it's just impossible!"

"Ah-ha! So you're gutless, on top of being stupid and clumsy and wimpy. Shishishi, you won't be a very good companion to the future king of the pirates."

"King of the pirates…?"

"Uhn." Her grin grew, larger than should have been humanly possible, her eyes squeezed into upturned crescents from the force of it. "I'm going to be Pirate King, you know!"

"YOU'RE WHAT? Don't you know what that means?!"

* * *

As Coby yelled and screamed about the difficulties of becoming Pirate King - like she didn't know all that already, honestly - Luffy turned to consider the boxes of edible plants in the shed.

_Lettuce, lettuce, where is the lettuce..._

Crispy vegetables were a bit of a guilty pleasure for her. She loved salad and everything that went into them; tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, onions, cucumbers… There wasn't all that much to be ashamed of, it was just that Ace and Sabo had always made fun of her whenever they saw her eating one - something about it being a girly thing to do - so she had learned to do it in secret. It had become such a habit to hide her love affair with vegetables that even after Ace had set sail for the greater seas Luffy had continued to tuck herself away when snacking on them.

She patiently tried to wait out Coby's tirade by peeling off a dewy green leaf and nibbling on it, only to have that patience snapped when he finally said, "It's impossible! You'll die! You'll never be able to do it, never, never, never - !"

He was stopped by a fist coming down on his head.

Luffy angled her hands on her hips and stared down at Coby, her expression serious. "Why should death stop me? What's so scary about dying? More than that, it's scarier to have died without having lived life at all. What the point of living if you waste it doing things you regret?" she said, a snap in her words if not in her voice. Without conscious thought, her hand reached up to pull her straw hat from her head. Luffy gazed at it, her eyes fond and distant. After having been put into his shoes, she could understand why the original Luffy had always done this when talking about his hopes and dreams. There was something about this hat… It called to mind endless seas and open skies and bright, bright red hair and a certain kind of yearning, a strange, wonderful _ache_ deep within her heart.

"I don't have a death wish, Coby. I'm not suicidal or anything. I don't _want _to die. But I've already set my heart on my goal, so I'll just live every day to the fullest until I get there. Even if the chance of me becoming Pirate King is only a billionth of a percent, even if I die in the middle of the journey, I don't mind. At least I tried, right? And you know, maybe I'm being full of myself, but... I believe I can do it."

She believed _Monkey D. Luffy _could do it.

It was the same thing, in the end.

"THEN!" Luffy glanced at the suddenly fired up Coby with large eyes and a small smile. "Do you… DO YOU THINK I CAN JOIN THE MARINES? We'll become enemies, but it's been my dream since childhood! I want to be a marine and protect people and fight bad guys! Do you think I can do it?"

"I dunno," she cocked her head to the side and stared straight at him. "What do you think?"

"I-I think… I can do it! I'm really gonna be a marine! I'll get away from this rotten place even if I have to risk my life to do it, and I'll become a marine and then I'll capture Alvida and put her away for good—!"

A large, spinning object looking came crashing into the little shed. Luffy immediately shoved Coby to the ground and shielded him with her body as debris rained down on the two of them. "Who's gonna put who away, _gaki_?!"

"AHH! A-alvida-sama!"

"You little shit! I thought you were slacking off but you were actually plotting escape! Who's this chit? A bounty hunter? Ha! You know full well that only Demon Beast Roronoa Zoro would be a match for me, not some weak little girl like this! So! I'll give you one chance to repent! Who's the fairest on the seas, Coby?"

"A-ahehheh... O-of course it's - "

Luffy abruptly stood up, physically lifting the pink-haired boy to his feet as she did so. "And here I was, thinking that you wouldn't be such so darn ugly if you just lost weight. There's nothing to be done for a bad personality."

"_WHAT?!_"

Alvida and the motley collection of pirates behind her gaped stupidly at Luffy, who just cocked her head and smiled. She knew exactly who this was, but she had to give her new friend a chance to prove his guts, so... "Who's this tough-looking old biddy, Coby?"

"Holy sh—!"

"She just...!"

"No way!"

Said boy sweated furiously as he shook her. "You have to take that back! Alvida-sama is... Alvida-sama... is..." The two of them met eyes, and she smiled knowingly at him. Coby blinked and then his brows furrowed in angry determination as he turned to his ex-captain with clenched fists and teary eyes. "ALVIDA IS... THE UGLIEST OLD HAG OF ALL!"

The large form of Alvida loomed dangerously over them both, but Luffy just threw her head back and laughed.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

"WAAAAAAAH!"

Luffy tipped her hat back to hang at her neck by its strap as she launched herself in front of her friend. "You're great, Coby! Good for you!"

The iron mace swung down viciously on Luffy's head. Ever present smile stretching her lips, she received the full brunt of it without a single flinch.

"Impossible! No one survives the iron mace! Who the hell are you?"

Funny that it took this long for anyone to ask. "My name is Luffy. And..." She stretched an arm back, her only visible eye gleaming. "I'm the one who'll be the Pirate King!"

A single Pistol, and Alvida was out for the count, her cronies quivering in fear at the sight. As they panicked over her apparent inhumanity, Luffy glared at them and demanded, "Give us all your meat and vegetables!" She'd already cut through half of her food supplies in the day it took to get here, and it wasn't like she didn't already have a boat. To Coby, she smiled and said, "Let's get you to the closest marine base, huh? You're gonna be joining them, after all."

Coby stared up at her, tears streaming down his face, and grinned back.

Coby couldn't believe this sudden turn of events. Who was this girl, this Luffy? She had blown in like a tempest and decimated everything he'd built up over the past two years, only to replace it with something much, much better. She shone from the force of her conviction, almost too much for human eyes to bear. She was impossible and wonderful and wanted to recruit Roronoa Zoro—wait, what?

"You're talking crazy again! That guy's a beast! A demon! It'll never happen!"

"Hmm... Nope. I've already decided. He's joining my crew. He's going to be my first mate, you know?"

"You can't just decide that kind of thing all on your own!"

She was also selfish and bullheaded and had absolutely no common sense. This would be a long couple of days.

* * *

**Notes **—

Not much change... yet. Think of two straight lines on a graph, separated by only a few degrees of difference. At the point of intersection, the two lines seem to be almost the same. (The changes lie in the minute details.) As you trace backwards, you will see that the two have very separate origins. As you go farther, the distance between those lines becomes distinct and steadily greater.

This chapter is the point of intersection.

Next chapter involves the first genderbending. It's not who you think.

(Edited October 2016.)

_[10/01/16: beta'd by beribboned! light of my life, something-something loins!]_


	3. Devils and Demons

**SOL INVICTUS**

**Chapter Three: Demon Men and Devil Girls**

* * *

Luffy bounced down the open streets of Shells Town, elated at the thought of gaining her first nakama (though her full stomach probably had more than a little to do with her good mood). Coby walked beside her, his own excitement significantly curtailed at the civilians' reactions to the name of Captain Morgan. Personally she thought it had been hilarious—she wanted to go back just to see how they'd react to Kaido's name or something. Or maybe they didn't know about the Yonko over here? Hmm... Food for thought.

She skipped the entire dialogue at the front gate of the base by immediately scaling the wall in search for Zoro.

"Wha—Luffy-san, you won't find Demon Beast Roronoa Zoro like that! He'll be—"

"Ooh, there's someone there!" Poor, ignored Coby sighed behind her as she jumped down and ran along beside the wall. "Let's see, let's see... There he is!"

And so he was. The lean body of Roronoa Zoro slumped against a wooden cross, arms tied to the arms of the post and long legs stretched out before him. Luffy ignored Coby's miniature freak out and mulled over her next course of action. "I could just go over there and free him," she mused aloud. She really didn't like to see him in this state. But what repercussions would that have? How would she convince him to join her? Original Luffy had just given the pirate hunter an ultimatum after a day of learning about the man, but she didn't know that she could do the same. She already felt attached to Zoro; it would hurt her to wait and watch as he suffered like this.

"... If you let him loose, he'll kill us all and destroy the town!"

"No," Luffy said with an easy grin. She never took her eyes off Zoro's beaten form. "He definitely won't. That's not the kind of person he is."

"How would you know what kind of person he is?!"

Zoro looked up with a grin like the blade of a knife and the eyes of Abaddon. "That's... a good question. Hey... girl... How do you know I won't just lop off your head the moment I'm free?"

Coby shrieked in fear.

"Because you're going to join my crew, that's why."

"_What?_"

Coby slithered down the wall, away from this strange confrontation.

"Uh-huh. I'm captain of a pirate crew, and I don't want anyone else to be my first mate but you. I'll untie you when you agree."

"Don't do it Luffy-san! He'll kill us the moment he's free!"

"Shishishi! He won't. I won't let him."

Zoro gave her a sharp look. "_Che.._. What reason do I have to lower myself to that level... and under a _woman_? I'll have to decline..."

Luffy cocked her head in confusion. Why had Zoro made the distinction of her being a girl? Kuina had been a girl, so he knew full well that being female had nothing to do with strength.

"But... you know, I've been here for nine days... I can't stand it anymore... if you untie me, I can make it worth your while... I'll kill someone with a big price and give you the bounty. Trust me... I'm a man of my word."

"Hmm... I don't want the money though. I want _you_."

"... This... is a strange place to be propositioning me... but we can find a hotel room or whatever after you've gotten these ropes off..."

"Why would we need a hotel room?" Luffy asked, confused.

"Oh god," Coby whimpered, face red.

The tap of wood against brick distracted everyone from what was sure to be a conversation dangerous to Coby's health. A little girl popped up from nowhere with a finger held to her lips.

"Shhh!"

"Ah, wait kid," Luffy said, holding the child by the scruff of her dress before she could go anywhere. "Those are for Zoro, right?"

The man himself was staring at them with narrowed eyes. "You want to die, kid?" he roared. "I'm... not hungry, so take that stuff and beat it!"

The girl faltered at his words, and stared up at Luffy with large eyes. "... Why do you wanna know?"

"It's dangerous for you to go down there. I'll do it."

"Really?" The child, Rika, if memory served her well, brightened. "Thanks onee-chan! It's the first time I made rice balls, I hope he likes them."

"I'm sure he will." Luffy leapt down from the wall with rice balls in hand and ambled her way over to the post where Zoro was tied up. "You heard her, right?"

"Take the kid and get lost! It's dangerous for her to be here!"

"Hmm, that's too bad. She's staying until she sees you eat."

"Fine! Give it here, hurry up!" She held up one of the rice balls to his mouth and he chomped at it, hardly even chewing before he swallowed. He had barely finished the first one when the whine of metal hinges interrupted them.

"Oh my, oh my, what's this I see?"

Zoro directed a glare to the owner of the voice. "_Tsk_. If it isn't the dumbass son leeching off of Daddy's wealth."

"Idiot! You're in no position to be saying such things! You, girl! Did you make that rice ball?" His eyes went to the napkin held in front of Luffy's chest.

The restrained swordsman stiffened but Luffy easily answered, "Yeah, it was all me."

Morgan's dumbass son glanced up at her face, shadowed almost entirely by her hat and appeared to find nothing of interest there before his eyes were magnetically drawn back to the rice ball. Or was his gaze a little past the rice ball? Hmm.

He smirked and said, "If you feed it to me, I'll conveniently forget that you just assisted a criminal."

"Nope. These are for Zoro, not for you."

With a sneer, he said, "Don't you see that sign over there? Anyone aiding this prisoner will be found guilty! Do you want to be killed? Don't you know how scary my father is?"

"He can't be much scarier than your haircut."

"Why you—! I can have you shot!"

Luffy laughed. "You can sure try," she agreed.

That seemed to be the last straw. "Men! Shoot this woman!"

"B-but..."

"Sir, she's just a civilian girl!"

"Are you disobeying direct orders? I'll tell daddy on you! Shoot her already!"

The four marines at Helmeppo's back slowly raised their guns and trained it at Luffy's head. Said pirate glanced behind her in alarm. She could probably avoid everything, but then they would reach Coby and Rika, who were peering over the fence. But not avoiding it would mean revealing her rubber abilities a little too early, thereby robbing her of the advantage of shock.

Or, she thought, she could just do this.

Luffy threw herself to the ground face first with the rice ball cradled to her chest. The business ends of the guns followed her. After a long moment's hesitation, the four men pulled the trigger and four bullets entered through her back just behind where her heart rested.

Helmeppo sneered at the girl laying prone on the ground. He couldn't see any blood, but her red vest was probably soaking it all up. No one could have survived that. "Ha! That's what you get!"

Nose in the air, he left the courtyard, four subdued men at his back.

* * *

"LUFFY-SAN!"

The little girl tried to squirm away from Coby's hands over her eyes. "What was that sound? What happened to the nice onee-chan?"

"S-shit! Woman, you're not dead already, are you? Oi! Kid! Get her to a hospital!"

Coby prepared to launch himself over the fence, only to be stopped in place by a familiar voice.

"No need." Luffy sat up. The skin that had been held in place by firmly packed dirt stretched even further for a moment, before snapping back into place. Bullets whizzed out of her back, all four at once.

"W-_what the hell?!_"

"Ahahaha, are you surprised?"

"Who the fuck wouldn't be? What hell was that?!"

Luffy tilted her head back and grinned at the wide-eyed Zoro. "I ate a devil fruit, and now my entire body is made of rubber. Cool, right?"

He stared at her for another moment before relaxing marginally. "... More like inhuman."

"That's funny, coming from the so-called demonic beast."

"Demonic beast, huh..." He smirked and shook his head. "Whatever, that kind of thing isn't important. Just get out of here, that other kid's having an ulcer. No... wait, before you go..." Luffy peered down, following Zoro's gaze with her own, and frowned. Despite her best efforts, the bullets had gone through the cloth and spilled some of the rice into a shapeless blob on the ground. She'd hoped to save Zoro from this particular scene, but clearly the universe wanted Zoro to prove himself this way, and no other. At least it wasn't so dirty as it had been in the manga… and there _was _one way to help him out. "Pick that up for me. Don't miss a single grain!"

Luffy did as she was told and scraped up every single part of the original rice ball off the ground, rubbing off dirt where she could. Zoro opened his jaw wide, obviously expecting her to shove the entire thing in. Instead, the part of the onigiri that was still in the napkin went into his mouth, while the dirt crusted portion went into hers, to Zoro's obvious confusion.

Luffy didn't chew. She ran her tongue over the grains of rice and began to separate the dirt and pieces of grit from the edible parts, swallowing the impurities to keep them separate. When she was relatively satisfied with the result, she angled Zoro's head up with her palms, tilted his jaw open, and met his mouth with her own.

"Mmpf?!"

When every last piece of rice was in his mouth, Luffy swiftly separated from the man.

"Chew," she ordered when he didn't move. He slowly began to work his teeth, still staring at her. "When I was little, there was this one time when I got so sick that I couldn't eat anything solid. But I really can't live on only soups; I needed meat to get better. So what my gramps did was, he chewed the meat for me and fed it from his mouth—like a momma bird. I just think that dirt and rocks can't be very good for a man who's been starving for nine days."

"Why… do you care?"

"Because!" She perked up. "You're gonna be my first mate, and I always take care of my nakama."

"You're so shameless! I said I'm not joining your crew!" he told her, halfheartedly kicking out his legs. Luffy danced out of the way with a grin and the pirate hunter quickly calmed.

"But, tell the girl... thanks. And tell her… Tell her that it was very..." He slowly licked his lips, his eyes never leaving hers. "_Delicious_."

"Sure thing!" Luffy said with a cheery departing wave. "I'll be back, so just wait a bit!"

* * *

Coby wanted to slam his head on something as he watched the insinuation in the Demon Beast's voice fly over Luffy's head the same way she flew over the brick fence.

"Hey, kid, Zoro told me to tell you thanks!"

He was clearly talking about you! Coby wanted to yell, but refrained.

"Really? I'm so glad, I worked hard on it!"

"Uhn! He said it was super yummy, so all that effort must have really paid off."

Dense. Dense, dense, dense, dense. She was so very dense.

Coby despaired for all of the men this girl would meet in the future.

* * *

"Ne, why do I have to get new clothes?" Luffy whined, her lower lip jutting in a petulant pout.

"Because!" Coby exclaimed, his cheeks red. "Your shirt is all damaged!"

Luffy peered down at her front. The bullets had pierced through her vest and part of her bindings, and walking back to the town had made the white cloth unravel fully. Now there was torn fabric right above her heart and nothing to hide the view of the valley of her breasts, which strained heavily against her shirt.

She shrugged. It wasn't that bad. There were clothes that were _designed_ to show more skin that this.

"I don't want to."

"You have to! You really have to! Please do it! Please do it right now!" He pushed her with all his strength —admittedly not that much— into one of the clothing shops littering the streets.

"Ah, sheesh. I'll do it if you'll stop nagging about everything."

"Deal! Now please clothe yourself!"

_Boys_, Luffy thought, rolling her eyes. She grabbed a random something from a rack and went to the changing rooms. _So obsessed with modesty or whatever. If he'd just been patient, I have a change of clothes back on ship._

Ace had been much the same, actually, always yelling at her for trying to take off clothes during training. What hypocrisy, coming from someone who went around almost half naked. _What's the point of a shirt if you aren't going to let it fulfill its purpose? Just go without one, no need to pretend you _aren't _constantly bragging about your muscles._

Sabo, on the other hand... Sabo hadn't had a chance to do that, really, before _that_ incident had taken him away. Luffy wondered where he was, what he had been doing since she'd last seen him. She missed him.

"Ah." Luffy realised she'd actually put on a dress, not a shirt. It bound her breasts tightly and was loose from the hips and down over her shorts, leaving fabric for her legs to move and stretch as she needed.

How convenient, she wouldn't need bindings like this! It was cheap too. She'd keep it. Luffy paid for the yellow dress and quickly spotted Coby waiting in the crowd with Rika at his side.

"Done," she said, poking the both of them. They both shrieked with shock, though Coby would probably swear otherwise if she teased him. "Let's get some food."

Rika squealed in surprise and stared up at her. Luffy's hat was hanging by its string at her neck, so her face was completely uncovered for the first time since setting foot on Shells Town. "Onee-chan, you're actually so... pretty!"

"That's great but I'm hungry."

Coby gaped at her, but he quickly gathered his wits and turned to march out of the shop, muttering to himself all the while. She only heard short snatches of what he was saying, but it was enough to feel vaguely insulted. "_Don't be fooled... an idio-... -tubborn... unbelievably selfi-... -ats like a pig..._"

Just in case he really was talking about her, she reached out and punched him in the head.

"OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"I felt like it."

* * *

"So you see, Zoro-san isn't a bad guy at all! Captain Morgan and his son are the bad ones!"

"So I see," Luffy agreed as she picked at her teeth with a bone. Outside, she could hear a certain someone's whiny voice announcing the public execution that would reputedly occur in three days from now.

Well, time to pent some energy.

"Hey, you!" She yelled as she stomped outside. She passed over the conversation about the promise and went straight to the good part.

"Who are you—?"

Luffy grabbed his scruff and punched him, hard, and on the other side too just for good measure. Then she threw the unconscious idiot down and strode to the execution yard, ignoring the shocked cries and Coby's shouts behind her.

Original Luffy had said it was a waste of a punch, but damn if that crunch hadn't felt satisfying.

"Yo." Her head popped over the brick wall and she grinned at the surprised looking Zoro.

"You really came back, huh."

"Yup! And here, I got you something." She launched herself in his general direction and skidded to a stop just a few inches away. "Here."

She held up a water bottle and its straw to his lips. His eyes sharpened and he nearly lunged at it, gulping down the liquid with frightening desperation. It was understandable. Normal humans could go without water for one week, at the most. Zoro must have lasted longer on pure will and determination.

As he finished the last of the water, Zoro glanced up and smirked. "You didn't have to dress up for me."

"Good, because I didn't. My name is Luffy, by the way."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm still not joining your crew."

"I'll untie you if you join my crew, all right?"

"You're completely not listening!" He sighed and continued, "Look, I have a goal I'm going to reach at all costs, and degrading myself to becoming a pirate under a fucking woman has nothing to do with it. I live by my own code, and I never have and never will do anything that I regret. So scram! I'm not joining your crew!"

"A goal, huh? It wouldn't happen to be becoming the world's greatest swordsman, would it?"

"How did you—?"

"You use swords... and I recognized your eyes, the way they're set to go straight to the top. I have a dream too, you know. It isn't hard to put the facts together."

"Really," he said skeptically. "Not that I care, but what's your 'dream' then?"

Luffy beamed. "I'm going to be the Pirate King!"

Roronoa Zoro choked on his spit. "You what?! You're just a woman! Don't you know what that means?"

She blinked at him and tilted her head. "Of course I know. What's your point?"

Twitch. "What's my—?!" He sighed and slumped, the fire draining out of him. "I don't know why I'm trying so hard with a bullhead like you."

"So where _are _your swords? They're your most valued treasures, right? Next to your life that is."

"How did you...?" He narrowed his eyes. "You seem to know a lot about me."

"It's 'cause we share a lot of things in common." Luffy's fingers ghosted over the wide brim of her straw hat. "Anyway, where are they?"

"That Morgan's dumbass son took them away."

"Then I'll go get them for you so you can join my crew. I can't have my swordsman without his swords!"

"I said I'm not joining your crew!" he roared.

"Okay, see you when I get back."

She began making her way to the fortress, ignoring Zoro's cries of, "OI! Come back! You idiot!"

Helmeppo should be up on the rooftop with his dad right now. While she could grab him like the other Luffy had, that would also result in Coby's being shot in the shoulder. So she'd find another way.

But... damn, their faces would have been hilarious if she went up there and broke the statue again!

_No, bad Luffy. Just try and figure out which room is Helmeppo's. Let's see..._

His was a room with a window facing the courtyard, and there weren't many of those. It also hadn't taken Luffy very long to get there from the roof, meaning it was very high, probably on the top few floors. There were only two windows that matched those descriptions.

_Eenie meenie minie_—_ah, who cares, just choose the one closer to Zoro._

Luffy shot her arm up and launched herself straight through the right window.

_Bingo._

Garish pink walls, scattered perfume bottles, an elephant jewelry box, and three out-of-place katana. They alone stood quiet and refined in this pomp and were all the more dignified for it.

She grabbed all three of them and tied them to her back with a ripped up shirt.

_I hope that was your favorite, dumbass son!_

"Shishishi!" Luffy peered outside and was glad to see no marines gathered outside, though Coby was there all the same, trying and failing to undo Zoro's bonds.

The look on their faces when she dove into Zoro's post feet first was enough to set her laughing again.

"AHAHAHA!"

The impact had broken the post nearly clean in half, a spiderweb of cracks splintering through the entire structure. One strong stomp, and the entire cross was just debris under her feet. The ropes binding Zoro slithered down his limbs, having nothing to support them now that the beams of wood were gone.

"IDIOT WOMAN ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME—ah, I'm free."

"Yup! And I have your swords, too." She grinned at him. "So Roronoa Zoro, join my pirate crew!"

"Give me my swords and I'll give you my answer." She handed them to him, not even considering that he could be tricking her until he smirked. "And my answer is this... No."

"I don't accept your answer. Try again."

"What?! Look girl, I'm grateful for everything, but I'm not going to throw away my life's mission because some bitch won't take no for an answer. I heard you punched the dumbass son, so I'll go kill Morgan and his wimp of an offspring before they can do anything to you. So get going!"

"Not until you say yes."

Zoro narrowed his eyes and unsheathed Wado Ichimonji. He pointed it at her, and said, "I'm never going to prostrate myself under a _woman_, so fucking scram already."

"No."

"Move."

"No."

"Move!" He ran at her, sword poised to stab. Luffy could tell that he wasn't moving as fast as he could have; even in a half-dead state, she knew he could be quicker than this. He was clearly expecting her to dive out of the way.

She didn't budge an inch.

* * *

_Drip._

_Drip._

_Drip._

Zoro stared at the bloody blade exiting the girl's back.

He tried to jerk it out, only to have Luffy wrap her hands around his and push the sword further into herself.

He choked in shock.

"... _Why_?"

She grinned, and the sun shone in her eyes like molten gold. "Roronoa Zoro. As the man who will become the greatest swordsman in the world... won't you stand at the side of the future Pirate King?"

"... Ha." He bent forward, allowing his bandana to shadow his eyes. "Ha... haha... hahaha... HAHAHAHA!" Zoro threw his head back and roared with laughter until he collapsed. His chest heaved as he stared up at her from the ground, a wry grin on his face. "I... guess I never stood a chance, huh? Fine, you little devil of a woman! I'll join your crew! But know this. I am going to be the greatest swordsman in the world. The moment you interfere with my goal, I will have you cut open your own stomach in apology!"

She grinned her great big grin, the one that was all teeth and squinting eyes and joy. "Of course! As the companion of the Pirate King, if you couldn't accomplish something that small, I would be very embarrassed!"

"Che." A grin spread across his own face. "Well said."

"This is a relief though." Luffy peered down at the sleek length of metal still imbedded in her stomach. "I don't know if I could have survived a second one of these. Man, am I glad you didn't aim for my heart!"

Zoro gave her a disbelieving look. "You were prepared to die, just to have me in your crew?"

She stuck her tongue out. "A man is only as strong as the people at his side, you know."

"You're a woman!"

"So?" Luffy cocked a confused brow. "What's the difference?"

_There are many!_ he wanted to say.

But then he tried to apply his usual beliefs of what he considered the weaker sex to this pirate and discovered—he couldn't.

They just didn't fit.

And then Zoro wondered what Kuina would think of Luffy.

Kuina, who had been his rival and the closest thing he had had to a best friend, who had thought that women were weak just by virtue of their birth...

What would he think about this little devil of a girl?

His was a viewpoint that Zoro had ended up adopting as well somewhere along the line, perhaps as a kind of tribute to his friend's memory. But he didn't think such a preconception would stand against the woman who wanted to be Pirate King—_king_, not queen. Honestly, what was wrong with this girl?

Zoro would have to shed his bias completely, if he was to keep moving forward. Without a doubt, being next to an impossible woman like this would only attract more impossible things.

As for Kuina...

Well, that guy would just have to deal with it from wherever in the afterlife he was.

* * *

Luffy winced as Zoro carefully extracted Wado Ichimonji, but very determinedly did not say anything. She did protest when she saw the sluggishly bleeding hole though. "Ah! I just got this dress! Damn it!"

"You should have thought of the repercussions before taking a blade to the gut," Zoro commented with a dull glare.

"Whatever," she pouted. She ripped off the end of her skirt and bound her wound with it. The dress was ruined anyway - blood was hell to wash out. "Let's just go kick some marine ass."

Luffy cracked her knuckles and stomped to the fortress, Zoro only a step behind - as it should be.

"Hey. You know, the normal marines here aren't that bad. Do you think you can fight those other guys without killing any of them?"

Her first mate slowly reached up and reversed the blade in his mouth so the dull side faced outward. She smiled and took a deep breath.

"OOOIIIII! MORGAN! YOU STUPID FAILURE OF A MARINE CAPTAIN WHO CAN'T EVEN CAPTURE A SINGLE PIRATE! GET YOUR UGLY MUG DOWN HERE, OR I'LL GO TO YOU INSTEAD, YOU DUMB WEAKLING!"

Several moments of silence passed, and then there was a roar of absolute rage from within the building. Several more moments and the man himself charged out of the front doors, a regiment of marine soldiers following behind him. "WHO DARES? WHO DARES INSULT THE GREAT ME?!"

Luffy grinned again, but this was not one of her happy beams. This was danger and sharp edges and _predator_. "Me."

Without further ado, she launched herself at the incensed blond, Zoro immediately falling into place behind her, decimating the soldiers who tried to stop his captain.

A "Gomu gomu no… Whip!" and the marines in her way fell like dominoes.

"What the hell was that?!" someone yelled, and while original Luffy would have stopped to explain that he was a rubber human —shonen manga, _honestly_— there was no room for such words in a real fight. Bullets whizzed towards her and she caught them with her outstretched limbs, sending them back into the crowd of marines - more specifically, at the shocked looking Morgan.

"Impossible!"

"That woman isn't human!"

"She must have eaten one of the legendary fruits of the sea… If guns don't work, use swords!" Morgan roared, throwing his jacket off of his shoulders.

"All yours, Zoro," she said, speeding on a straight course to her target.

"Of course, captain."

Her first mate blazed through the ranks of marines like a meteor, felling men with a single swipe of his sword, while she herself allowed a vicious smile to curve her lips. She stretched an arm back, back, further back, and —"_Pistol!_"— sent it sailing forwards straight to Morgan's face.

The larger man raised his axe to block the attack, and though her fist didn't shatter the iron as she'd hoped —_have to work on that_— the force was such that he was thrown clear across the makeshift battlefield to crash into the wall of the fortress.

"GRAH! YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

She grabbed a marine near the straining Morgan and used the man to launch herself into the captain's chest feet first. Her wound from Zoro stretched and howled with pain, but she mentally packed that away to deal with it later.

Her landing was announced with a "GUH!" and a coughed spattering of blood decorating her calves.

Morgan swiped viciously at her ankles with his axe, but she had already jumped into the air with her knees tucked into her chest. Both feet shot out and stomped him in the face, driving his head further into the stone as she used his head as a launchboard to flip back in the air.

"C-captain Morgan can only be kicked around!"

Really, it was too boring if he couldn't at least try to fight back. Luffy stood with her hands readied in fists as she waited for Morgan to extract himself from the hole.

The large man heaved himself onto his feet with a ferocious glare and his axe arm shot out in a powerful slash.

"Hupp~!" Luffy bent low to the ground this time, and the cutting wind went well over her head. She heard the crash of metal links and brick crumbling to the ground but didn't bother to look back to see it, instead stretching her arm to grab hold on her enemy's booted ankle. Spinning out of the way of a downward slash, her body shot forward except for a single foot, and by the time Morgan had caught onto what she was doing, her sandal was already on a crash course to his jaw. The crunch of broken teeth sounded through her bones and she pushed away from the tottering Goliath before he could fall on top of her.

"You're a poor excuse of a marine captain," she told the man, who was struggling to stand back onto his feet. "Oppressing those you're meant to protect… destroying Coby's dreams…!"

Because don't think she hadn't noticed the devastated look in her friend's eyes every time he saw a civilian cowering away from a marine. In his mind, marines were meant to shield, to safeguard, to serve true justice; watching these men harm the very same people who relied on them for shelter and security was like driving an ice pick straight into his heart.

Luffy grabbed Morgan's collar, drew her elbow back, and —"WAIT! Stop right there!"— drilled it straight into his skull.

"I said wait! Are you an idiot?!"

Luffy glanced up to see exactly what she had expected to see. A shaking Helmeppo stood with Coby at gunpoint. The younger boy's legs quivered madly, but his eyes shone with determination. She'd wondered if this particular scene could be avoided by leaving Coby far away, but clearly the Plot Matrix had decided it was necessary, and who was she to stunt her friend's character growth?

"If you want this guy to live, don't move!"

Zoro, who fell into step beside her, muttered, "Looks too scared."

She smirked. "Scared and holding a gun. 'S a good combination."

Coby braced himself and screamed, "Luffy! I'm not afraid of death! So… don't let me get in your way!"

"Yup!" she answered with a big grin. "I know!"

"I said not to move—!"

"Hey, you dumbass son! Coby's not afraid of death…" She wound up her arm. "So go ahead…"

"LUFFY, BEHIND YOU!"

"_I am the great marine captain...!_"

"... and shoot!"

Her fist hurtled to Helmeppo's ugly face the same moment Zoro blurred past her, swords turned blade-side out.

* * *

The marines were cheering, Coby was laughing, Zoro was sitting haphazardly on the ground —but not passed out like the original Zoro, so perhaps her little bit of help had done some good— and all was well.

Luffy removed the mental block to her pain and her breath hitched from the surge of _ow, ow, hurts! _that burned liquid fire through her wound and reached up to clamp a heavy hand over her throat. Zoro gave her a curious glance when she staggered but the onslaught was gone as quickly as it had come and left only the dull ache the wound was causing at this present moment. By the time the swordsman's eyes turned to her a second time, this time in worry, Luffy was already straightening up as if nothing had happened.

Compartmentalization was excellent to use during battle. It allowed her to block out the information coming in from her pain receptors so that a wound wouldn't inconvenience her in the middle of an attack; even the slightest flinch or falter could change the tides of a match, and she liked to have her advantages when it counted.

The problem came _after _the battle was over. She couldn't ignore all pain forever. It was unhealthy and would kill her better than anything else could: she could be burnt alive or spilling out her guts and she wouldn't know any better. But the instant the block was lifted, all of that accumulated data rushed straight to her brain, all at once, and it hurt like nothing else. Of course once that moment of agony was over, everything was back to normal… but she knew that one day, some indeterminate years into the future, there would come a time when she wouldn't survive that rush of torturous _pain_.

To triumph in battle but then be defeated by her own body... well, that was a pathetic way to die. She'd prefer to go down in a blaze of glory, or exempting that, while protecting her loved ones.

Ah, all this future-thinking was giving her a headache. Best stay with the here and now - she had things to do.

Luffy put her hands to her hips and grinned at her two new friends. "You guys go eat first. I need to ask a favor from these marines."

Coby blinked in surprise and Zoro angled her a _look_, because what kind of favour would a pirate need from marines? But starvation won out over suspicion and he left without a second glance, Coby trailing at his heels.

"Look, miss, we're grateful that you've saved us from Captain Morgan, but if you ask us to do anything that goes against the marine code of conduct, we will have to refuse—"

"Nothing so complicated as that. I just need a den den mushi. Oh, and a directory for the Vice Admirals' numbers."

Because Morgan seriously pissed her off, and she wanted to cover all her bases.

* * *

"What d'you want?" the little snail snapped.

Luffy grinned. Abrupt and rude as ever, her gramps was.

"Grandpapa~! It's me!"

"IS IT REALLY—? LUFFY, MY ADORABLE GRANDDAUGHTER!"

"Shishishi, did you miss me?"

"Of course I did! Why are you calling from a marine base? Have you finally come to your senses and joined the marines? LUFFY, I AM SO PROUD—"

"Nope. Sorry, but I'm still not joining the marines."

There was a palpable air of disappointment coming from the den den mushi, and - was that a pout?

It was. The snail was pouting.

Pff, her gramps was so funny.

"I'm just calling to tell you that you might soon be getting a call from East Blue to pick up a convict who used to be a marine captain—"

"How would you know something like that?"

"Eh, it's a long story. Anyway, if you do, you have to make sure not to get hurt during the exchange, okay? If you let the guy that I disciplined for you to escape, I'll be really disappointed!"

"You underestimate your grandaddy! Why would I let a weakling like that escape?"

"By falling asleep."

There was a silent pause as they both acknowledged this possibility.

"And if you meet a guy named Coby, just know that he comes with a Luffy stamp of approval, okay?"

"What? Luffy—"

"Alright, I have to go now! I love you, gramps!" Luffy hung up on her grandfather before he could ask further questions and giggled. That proclamation of love, while true, would also serve to keep her gramps off her back for a while longer. He was a bit of a sucker for affection and he had a soft spot for her like nothing else.

(Because the poor man was in desperate need of love, and really, who else would cuddle him and pepper him with kisses? Ace? Sengoku? _Dragon_? Even original Luffy hadn't been emotive enough for that, with all his male pride and Fist of Love induced terror. She, however, adored cuddling, so it was no skin off her back if gramps liked to grab her and rub their cheeks together every time he saw her.)

Luffy exited what used to be Morgan's office and headed down to the ground floor. She passed the open door to the infirmary, where Morgan and his dumbass son were both being temporarily detained while the marines figured out what to do with both of them. Morgan was still knocked out from the beating he had taken, but Helmeppo was awake and spitting mad.

"You bitch! The moment my father gets free, you'll regret what you've done!"

And Luffy saw before her eyes one last loose thread to be tucked into shape.

"You know," she said as she slowly entered the room. She made her way to the chair Helmeppo was tied up in and bent over him. He flinched away from the light touch on his cheek, already aware of what those dainty fingers could do if provoked. "You... have so much more potential than this. Your insistence on clinging to a father who doesn't even love you is holding you back. You could be so much more if you just _tried_." She leaned back onto her heels, her spine set straight as she considered him seriously. He returned that gaze with an expression that was a boiling pot of emotion, of fury, shock, terror, and _wonder_. Had anyone ever done this for him? Had anyone ever told him that he could be someone capable of living life on his own merits? Helmeppo was an ugly jerkface, sure, but he was an understandable one. "Face the world standing on your own two feet, reach for opportunity with your own two hands, look for strength from your own beating heart. You'll be surprised at how much you can accomplish with your own power. Don't waste the existence you've been given, okay?"

One last clap of his skinny shoulder and she strode out of the silent room, determined to get some food into her belly before it ate her alive.

A wide-eyed blond was left in her wake, his gaze directed at nothing, but filled with determination that hadn't been there in the few seconds prior.

* * *

Her little boat filled with supplies, her wound tended to with utmost care, her hunger satiated, a minor beating administered, proclamation of eternal friendship shared (Coby had somehow looked simultaneously overjoyed and uncomfortable), and Luffy was setting sail from Shells Town with a new nakama and a sharp line of salutes to see her off.

Zoro chuckled as Luffy wriggled in excitement and threw her fists in the air.

"YATTA! GRAND LINE HERE WE COME!"

* * *

**Notes **—

By the way, this will be a harem (well, as much as that's possible with a protagonist like Luffy). Because I love crack pairings (like you wouldn't believe) and find it hard to choose, and because ikemen are aplenty in One Piece so why not make use of them?

In this chapter, Luffy indirectly saved one person and sentenced another to death. The man who refused to kill Rika lived, while the man who accidentally scraped Morgan's statue's hand died (because she was not there to distract Morgan from going through with it this time). That's just how it is.

(Edited October 2016.)

_[10/01/16: beta'd by beribboned. so talented! so clever! cute!]_


	4. Shh, Just Let It Happen

**SOL INVICTUS**

**Chapter Four: Shh, Just Let It Happen**

* * *

Luffy considered the strips of fabric in her hands.

She hated bindings. Hated them, hated them, hated them. And bras too. The only reason she'd worn bindings in the first place was because Makino and Mayor and Gramps and Ace had made such a big deal over it back on Foosha.

But… none of them were here now.

"Shishishishi… I'M FREE! NO MORE CONSTRICTION!"

And so it came to pass that Monkey D. Luffy would never wear bras again.

Not even during fight scenes.

* * *

Thousands of miles away and thousands of miles apart, a collection of diverse people experienced incongruous shivers of dread lancing down their spines.

In response, one smacked a cane against a desk. One dropped a glass cup. One snatched up a sake bottle and guzzled it down. One bit a cigarette in half and cocked a rifle. One popped a blood vessel and burnt toast to molten ashes. One adjusted white gloves and glared savagely at nothing. One faced the East with a dark scowl. One crumpled an entire building to its foundations with a furious punch. One smiled grimly and gripped both a sword hilt and a mug.

All had only a single particular commonality binding them.

And none would understand until they saw the new bounty posters a month from now.

* * *

"Zoro, I'm hungry! Let me eat!"

"No," he snapped, annoyed. "You said not to let you eat for another hour, remember?"

"I take it back, I don't know what I was thinking! Zooooroooo, feed meeee..."

He was unimpressed. "You were thinking about how to make our food supplies last, that's what. If I can last nine days, you can last four hours."

"B-but... I'm so _hungry_…" Luffy whinged. "Uuu…" She started to sniff and rub at her nose. "Zoro is mean!"

"O-oi, are you crying?"

"No!" she protested, pressing her palms against her teary eyes. "I'm not! I'm not crying!"

Zoro's hands reached out in a decidedly panicked way, though if later asked, he would never admit to doing something so pathetic as_ hand fluttering_. "W-what the hell? Stop it! How could you be crying about something like this? I'll give you meat, so stop crying!"

"I'm not crying," she cried, reaching out and punching him in the gut. He wheezed in shock. "I'm not a crybaby, so I'm not crying! And that's that!"

"Fine, you're not crying," the swordsman groaned. He gripped his aching abdomen with an arm and scowled. "Fucking hell, see if I care anymore..."

But then teary eyed Luffy took the meat he offered —grinning at him in that way that she had— and he felt the pain alleviate, just a little bit.

* * *

Occasionally, Zoro remembered the feel of her soft lips against his own parched ones and idly thought about her proclamation of 'wanting him'. He knew what she meant _now_, but he didn't think he would complain if she followed up the way he had initially interpreted it... because Luffy, he soon learned, was a very tactile person. She loved to touch. Nothing sexual, of course, because the girl was as sexual as she was polite—that was, not at all. A shame, but it didn't affect his goal at all, so he didn't really care either. But still, Luffy loved to grab his arm or lean against his back or drape herself over his shoulders or tangle their legs together or curl into his side like a cat or any other number of things that involved skin contact.

Zoro himself was the opposite. His skin was—

He was...

Well, he normally didn't like to be touched in this way, and that was the long and the short of it. He was fine with the brisk movements of a quick fuck or the glancing blows of a good fight, but something like this, colored with real affection, made him uncomfortable. It was too soft and too fond, and he hated it.

Didn't he? Hadn't he thought it—

No. No, he definitely hated it. Anything else was unacceptable.

Eventually though, he learned to just let Luffy do as she liked. There was no harm to it, after all, and she was like a tiny furnace. That entire lazy week, the two of them drifted in a southwesterly direction. It was... pleasant.

But the moment she came between him and his dream, he would invoke their promise without hesitation.

* * *

"Look! It's a bird!"

Zoro glanced to the sky in disinterest and grunted, "So?"

"It's really, really, huge! A magic mystery bird!"

It didn't look all that huge from over here, but maybe the view from the bow was better. "And?" It wasn't like they'd need to eat it. They had supplies enough for a week or two, so he wasn't worried about starving yet.

"And we're going to follow it!"

He sighed. Luffy and her whims. "You're the captain. Do what you want."

"Awesome, start paddling," she laughed.

"What."

"'Cause I'm the captain, right? You just said so," Luffy told him, grinning cheerily. Zoro glared at her, entirely unamused. "Think of it as training. My gramps says if you slack off for too long, your muscles will become jello!"

"What about you then?"

"I'm rubber. I'm different, shishishi."

He kept glaring at her as he slowly picked up the two paddles and started working his shoulders.

She continued to grin, and chirped, "Don't be angry, Zoro. You'll get to fight a lot on the next island we land on."

"Really," he deadpanned. It wasn't so much a question as a dubious statement, but that didn't seem to register with her. Sometimes he wondered whether she was really just that dense or if she was willfully ignoring everything that was not made obvious... and some things that were.

"Yup! I promise."

Well, if she _promised_.

Zoro allowed a smirk to curve his lips as he set to paddling steadily behind that stupid bird.

* * *

"Stop! Stop the boat!"

"The boat over there, stop!"

Luffy saw Zoro glancing at her for instruction, and she scrunched her nose. She didn't really like these guys; they were annoying, and she didn't really see the point of them, but she couldn't exactly leave them to drown.

"Don't slow down," she told her first mate. "I'll take care of this."

"We said sto—!"

Luffy stretched out and grabbed two of the goons with one hand and the third one with her other... And then she smashed their heads together and dropped them on the deck. "There. All taken care of."

Zoro pressed his lips together and looked like he was trying not to laugh. "Was that really necessary?"

Luffy gestured at the hat on one of the men. "Pirates. They'd have tried to make us stop, and then we'd lose the mystery bird."

"Pirates, huh? Recognize the sign?"

She gave a noncommittal shrug. "No one important."

"Hm. Wonder why they were drifting in the middle of ocean."

She stuck her tongue out. "I bet they were tricked by a pretty girl who pretended to be half dead to steal their treasure or something. And then she sank their dinghy by directing them into a storm."

"_That_ sounds plausible," Zoro snarked back sarcastically.

* * *

"Ho? How about that, the bird actually got us to solid land."

"I said so, didn't I? It's a magic mystery bird!" Luffy cheered, bouncing off their little fishing boat and onto the wooden docks.

"Yeah, yeah..." Zoro threw her two ropes and she hooked them to a couple of nearby cleats. When she was finished, he jumped out after her with the goons under his arms. "It looks like a ghost town though."

She squinted in the direction of the streets. "It's clean enough. The lack of people probably has something to do with these pirates. Can't be coincidence that they were so close by."

Zoro's eyebrows raised at her quick assessment. "Sometimes you say things that actually make sense."

"Everything I say makes sense," she pouted. "Now come on, let's go explore the mystery town and punch out some bad guys!"

"Fine, let's get this over with."

"Wait a minute," Luffy said, stopping in place and gripping Zoro's haramaki so he couldn't leave without her. "There're a couple of things you gotta know…" She told him about Buggy's devil fruit, about Cabaji's dirty tricks, about how this entire town was precious to its inhabitants and was something to be protected.

"Some pirate," the swordsman finally replied, looking amused. "Next you're going to tell me not to kill anyone."

"That's stupid. I can't be a pirate if I worried about things like that," she told him, putting her hands to her waist. Zoro gave her a surprised look, as if he hadn't expected that answer, until she added, "But if you can avoid it…"

He rolled his eyes and grunted, "Figures."

"That's all, I think. Okay, let's go explore!"

* * *

"Oi! What do you jerks think you're doing?"

Nami clenched the map tighter in her fist and peered down the street for her saviour. She was saved! She wasn't a powerhouse after all, and her only major weapons were her brain and her staff. She knew she was sly and clever, but she couldn't take on three huge men on her own unless she wanted to push herself, but she'd really prefer not to... Really, everything would be so much easier if she just had a plank of wood, three trumpets and a goat. Alas, it was not to be.

But then again, that voice had been very firmly soprano. A girl's voice.

Nami spotted the woman who had shouted, and registered the small build, the thin, almost brittle looking limbs, the wide, round eyes. Her heart dropped into her stomach at her fleeing hope and a sick boil of guilt began to take root in its stead. Although a conventional escape seemed impossible, she could still… she could still use the girl to her advantage. It would be easy to pretend that the passerby was Nami's boss and direct the thugs' attention to her instead, so Nami could make a quick getaway. She could even come back to sneak her away later, the thief assured herself, so it wasn't like Nami was abandoning the girl to any permanent, terrible fate. No, no she wasn't being cruel, she wouldn't just leave the girl, she'd definitely come back later.

Guilt assuaged, Nami prepared to implement this plan immediately - and then she saw the large man looming protectively behind the other girl.

_Alright, scrap that plan, go for the cute girl in danger route._

"Help me," Nami cried, rapidly falling into her new role. Crocodile tears brimmed in her eyes. "Please, I'm so scared!"

Both of the strangers gave her unimpressed looks - as did the three thugs, but she ignored them. She could understand the girl, but come on, was that guy's heart made of ice? She was cute, dammit! She knew she was cute! Why was she feeling self-conscious? Just because the other girl had bigger boobs—

No. Focus. It wasn't just money at stake here, it was her life (_and the lives of all her precious people she couldn't let them down not now not when she was so close not ever_).

Nami choked out another sob. "_Please!_"

"Aw, don't cry pretty lady!" spoke the girl. At least _she_ acknowledged Nami's exceptional looks. The thief liked her better already. "I need you to do something for me, okay?"

"A-anything," Nami said, instead of protesting the way she wanted. "I'll do anything!"

"Duck."

_Wha__—_

"Gomu Gomu no Whip!"

And without conscious thought, years of finely honed reflexes forced Nami to the ground as a long, fleshed colored _something_ shot out of nowhere and lashed into the heads of the three confused Buggy pirates, knocking them out cold. She slowly peered up to see the girl standing with one leg still raised in what seemed to be the remnants of a roundhouse kick.

_Surely that wasn't__—__there is no way that__—__how could that be possible__—_

_What. The hell._

"W-w-what was that?" the thief stuttered, nervously shuffling back.

"Shishishi, nothing to concern yourself over," the girl said to her with a grin. She began to tread closer to Nami, the other guy hovering over her shoulder like a dark storm cloud. "More than that, are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

She managed to gather herself enough to realize that the girl was actually strong despite how she looked, and had an absurd kind of ability, though she still wasn't really sure what it was. But most importantly, she realized that the girl was indeed a softhearted person whom Nami could exploit. Not cruelly, of course, since she wasn't a rotten pirate, but in a way that would be advantageous to the both of them.

"You - you saved me just in time! I don't want to imagine what they would have done to me!" The thief stumbled her way towards the pair and threw her arms over shoulders that were lower than even her own. She was surprised to find that the girl didn't actually feel as frail as she looked, and that her skin had a really strange texture besides. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Haha, no problem," the stranger chuckled, patting a hand between Nami's shoulders. There was an exasperated huff of air above her, and she peered up to meet impassive black eyes. She fluttered her eyelashes. The guy looked absolutely unmoved.

_Hmph, whatever. I'm too cute for you anyway._

Nami squeaked when slender arms suddenly wrapped around her middle and hoisted her onto a supple shoulder bone, and was distracted once more by the odd nature of the girl's body. Normally, shoulders tended to be hard and bony, but this particular shoulder was… weirdly springy.

_No wait, more importantly..._

"What the hell are you doing?!" she barked, kicking her feet wildly. "Put me down! Put me down right now!"

There was a low chuckle and Nami's eyes snapped up in a glare.

"So now you show your true colors."

She grit her teeth when she realized she'd broken out of character. Dammit! And it had been going so well too; just a little bit more and she would have guilt tripped the girl into becoming her bodyguard.

"All right," the other girl said, marching forward unmindful of Nami swinging feet. "We'll talk shop, and then go get rid of that jerk Buggy."

"T-talk shop? What are you talking about? And let me down already!" Her brain sparked. "Wait, what do you mean get rid of Buggy? You trying to get yourself killed or something?" She began to struggle wildly, but deceptively dainty arms kept her firmly in place. "Let me go! Let me go right this moment, I'm not taking part in your suicide mission, no way!"

"Would it make you feel better any if I told you the guy behind me is Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro?"

"Pirate hunter? Who's—" She blinked as she recognized the name. "Roronoa Zoro…? Wait, you mean the Majū*? _That's_ the Demonic Beast Roronoa Zoro?"

"Uh, sure," the girl replied, sounding confused for a moment though Nami wasn't sure why. "Yup, that's Zoro."

The pirate thief stared at the man whose head loomed above her and was met with a feral grin that had most definitely not been there before. She cowered away in fear. What kind of crazy company had she found herself in?

"Okay... I'm guessing that didn't help. He won't hurt you, you know," the girl added. Said man chuckled lowly at that and Nami felt herself beginning to hyperventilate. "Hey, stop that. I know you get your kicks from scaring people, but we need her."

To Nami's surprise —because she'd heard that Roronoa Zoro obeyed _no one_, especially not anyone of the fairer sex— he actually stopped. The grin slid off his face and the disinterested look returned. Nami felt comforted by it this time, rather than insulted.

Who was this girl, to command the Demon Beast like that? She'd have to stay close to her. Nami foresaw much profit from a mutual partnership.

But _not this close_.

"Let me _down_!"

"Shishishishi!"

* * *

"I'm Nami. I specialize in stealing from pirates."

"My name is Luffy! Nice you meet you!" she cheered happily, glad to be finally meeting her future navigator.

Zoro, on the other hand, was frowning heavily. "Hey Luffy, you sure we should be dealing with her?"

"What's wrong with it?" Luffy asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah," Nami snapped. The navigator had become much more comfortable in their presence after she realized Zoro wouldn't kill her. "What's wrong with it? The Demonic Beast has no right to look down on thieves."

What was with this majū business? Or rather, Majū, since it seemed to be more of a title than a descriptor. Her adventures since leaving Foosha had thus far roughly followed the general script she knew. Up until now, she had been taking for granted that the Strawhats were almost exactly like they had been in the tale she had read and adored. Maybe she shouldn't have made such an assumption…?

Now that she thought of it, in the other world Zoro had only been described to be _'like _a demonic beast' and only a few times. But in Shells Town, he had been called '_the _demon beast' and the words had followed him everywhere, almost like it was directly attached to his name. In fact, Nami hadn't even recognized the epithet of Pirate Hunter, and she was much, much more afraid of him than she should be. Coby had made sense, but strong, independent Nami?

"Hey, why do you keep calling Zoro that?" Luffy asked curiously.

Nami cocked a brow. "Calling him what?"

"You keep calling him a majū. Why?"

Zoro stiffened, and Nami gave her a deeply shocked look. "What do you mean, why? You're traveling with this guy and you don't even know anything about him?"

Luffy pouted. "I know stuff about him! I know he's Zoro, and he wants to be the greatest swordsman ever, and he's really strong, and he's a good guy once you get to know him..."

The other girl's eyes widened. "A _good guy_? He's barely on this side of legal," which was not really saying much, Luffy thought, seeing as how two of them were pirates and the other was a thief who was also actually a pirate, "and that's because everyone's too scared of him to say anything! Don't you know how he got his name? It's—"

"Not important," Zoro interrupted. He glowered dangerously at Nami, who flinched and then tried to pass it off as a flick of her hair.

Luffy stared at her first mate, who avoided her gaze. He was hiding something. There was something in his past that he very much did not want her to be aware of. If she asked, would he answer?

She frowned. Of course he would. She knew it very well. Zoro was a man of his word, and he had sworn her as his captain and she could order him to tell her. But did she want to know? Did she really care all that much?

Because the thing was, she really didn't. If it was that important, he would tell her. She didn't care what he had done before meeting her; all that was important was what was happening in the present moment. And right now, Zoro was her precious nakama and she would trust his judgement in this.

"Okay," Luffy answered plainly. Zoro stiffened further, mistaking her dismissal for something else, before blinking at her. He slowly, cautiously allowed his shoulders to relax again, in increments, as if expecting her to come up with some sort of stipulation. She just grinned at him. "If you say so."

Nami looked at her with a strange expression —it looked a little like abject horror, actually— before she shook her head and began to speak again. "A-anyway… I was thinking of proposing a partnership between us. You seem really strong, and I could use your help. I'm planning on going to the Grand Line to steal from even richer pirates. Look, with this map I stole from Buggy, it'll be a breeze! We can split 50-50 on what we earn, so you should consider it."

Luffy absently rubbed under her nose and glanced out the window. "Why would you go so far just for money?"

Nami's eyes blazed at the question. "My goal is to buy a certain village. I need one hundred million beli to do that, and I'll do whatever it takes to reach that goal!"

Hearing this, Luffy paused. Silently, she held her breath and thought for a moment, before allowing the caught breath to drift out of her lungs. It was a huge risk, what she was about to do, and could go horribly —so very, horribly— wrong, but it would save Nami so much heartache if it worked.

"Say. Does this village you're talking about happen to be under threat of destruction? And do you need the money to save it from some bad people?"

Nami froze in surprise. "I… yes. How did you know?"

"It's a little obvious from the way you talk about it," Luffy said, very carefully not meeting hazel brown eyes. "And, this village… it wouldn't happen to be t-the Conomi Islands' Cocoyashi Village?"

"You—!" Nami leapt to her feet with a ferocious snarl and her chair clattered loudly to the ground behind her. Zoro's hand slid to the hilt of a black sword, but the girl looked too incensed to even bother with her earlier fear. "You tricked me! I can't believe I felt bad for you. Did Arlong send you? Who are you really? Marines? Bounty hunters? No wait, I know. I bet you're _pirates_. God, I can't believe I got so duped!"

Luffy's mind snagged on one phrase in particular. "Why would you feel bad for me?"

"If you don't know, then it doesn't matter," she snapped. "I'm leaving."

"Wait, don't go yet," an elongated arm snagged around Nami's narrow waist and reeled her in. "I really, really need to talk to you!"

"What d'you mean, 'need to talk to me'? I don't need to hear anything from the likes of you!" Nami began to thrash wildly, pushing and squeezing and scratching at Luffy's arm - and Luffy had to admit that last one hurt a bit of a lot. "Don't _touch_ me!"

"But what if I said I could help you get rid of Arlong?"

Nami glared. "I don't need your help, you dirty pirate. I can do everything on my own!"

The sarcastically smirking Zoro quipped, "And how's _that _working out for you?"

"Shut up, you dirty, shameless _murderer_," the navigator spat. "It's working out perfectly fine!"

"What," he began, his voice an icy calm, "did you just call me?" His thumb flicked at the golden tsuba of Wado Ichimonji to reveal sleek, sharp silver, but Nami was far too gone to be cowed at the threat. The girl's hand lingered near her thigh, three rods twirling around her fingers.

_When did she even pull those out?_

"You heard me, you cold-blooded killer. I'm surprised you can even stand to be near civilization, with how much blood is on your hands. Maybe _I'll _tell her all about the Mangetsu Massacre, save you the trouble!"

Luffy ignored the name —if Zoro didn't want her to know, then she wouldn't try to find out— and preoccupied herself with trying to figure out how to diffuse this situation. The relationship between her two first nakama was quickly becoming much, much, _much _worse than she'd anticipated. The two hadn't really gotten along in the original story either, but they'd never actually come to armed blows as they seemed about to do now.

"Shut up, _woman_," Zoro hissed. A sword was pointed at Nami's throat so quickly that Luffy almost couldn't follow its movement, with only the lingering memory of a _shiiik_ ringing in her ears to indicate that it had happened at all. Nami assembled her staff and pointed it at Zoro in that very same instant, and Luffy marveled at the thief's speed. Nami's weapon required much more movement to wield and the staff had already been prepared to parry Zoro's sword in the time it took him to draw, which meant that her hands were even swifter than his. But everyone in the room knew who would win in a fight between these two, and though Luffy commended her soon-to-be crewmate's sheer guts, she knew she'd have to interfere before someone got hurt.

"All right, let's not fight," the pirate captain said. She wrapped her rubbery limbs around Nami's entire body —"_I said not to touch me!_" was roared into red-clad breasts— and settled her chin on the older girl's head. "No hurting our future navigator, Zoro."

Nami struggled in her arms, but the limbs just snapped back every time they were pushed away. "I'm not _ever _going to be—"

"Tch." After a pause, the sword was returned to its sheath, considerably more slowly than it had been drawn. Zoro directed a dark look at the floor.

"Sorry. I know you're feeling restless from not being able to fight," Luffy soothed. Speaking of fighting… "I did promise you a battle on this island, didn't I?"

He gave an impatient grunt.

"Then can you go beat up some of the Buggy Pirates before they fire their cannons at things? I don't want the villagers to come back to find their homes gone just because some jerks were bored. I'll join you after I finish talking with Nami." Hearing this, a small smirk found its way on the swordsman's mouth and he began making his way to the door. "Ah, but Zoro… make sure you go in the _opposite _direction of where you think they are."

"_My_ sense of direction isn't like yours," he replied, rolling his eyes. Luffy wondered if his eyes would fall out at this rate. "I'm not gonna get lost."

She gave his departing form a dull stare.

_He's gonna get lost._

"I—can't—breathe!"

"Ah, Nami!" Luffy yelped. She unraveled all of her limbs except her arms and grinned at the girl. "I forgot!"

"You dumbass pirate!"

"Sorry, sorry," she laughed.

The other girl just scowled at her. "You said you have something to say to me, and you won't let me leave until you say it, so spit it out already!"

Well, if she insisted...

"Nami," Luffy said, turning serious. She dropped her arms and stepped back, to allow this conversation the gravity it deserved. "Arlong, he—he never intended to let you buy Cocoyashi."

The orange-haired woman immediately tensed and ground her teeth. "Even for a joke... that's going too far."

"It's not a joke. I'm serious. Arlong is never going to give Cocoyashi to you, and he's never going to let you leave."

"Y-you're lying. He promised that if I could pay him 100 million beli, Cocoyashi would be mine. He gave me his word."

"Sure, if you managed to get the money to him. But what if he found out where you hid the money?"

"There's no way—!"

"What if he paid off a marine to dig up your stash and confiscate it? There's no way you could give him the money then. He'd be able to keep you and still keep his word. Arlong would do something like that, and you know it! He would, and he could, and he will."

"No, this—you—this can't—you're _lying_. You're a dirty, despicable pirate, and a fucking liar! Shut up. Just shut up!"

But Luffy could see the terror dawning in the lines of her face, the twist of her mouth, the trembling of her hands, and silently apologized as she continued, "Think about it, Nami! Arlong hates humans, but he's kept you by his side for years. That's how valuable you are. I met those Buggy pirates you stole from earlier, and I know you can read weather like an open book. Sailors spend their entire lives trying to get as half as good as you are. Do you think he's going to let skill like that slip away so easily? He won't! He's a pirate too, and he's not above yanking you around. Please Nami, _think about it__—_"

"I said _shut up_!" A hand shot out and slapped her across the face. Nami glared down with wide, angry eyes, her reddened fingers still trembling in the air. "You're trying to get me to give up? Well, tell Arlong that I won't! Cocoyashi's going to be mine if I have to kill him for it!"

Luffy paid no mind to the strange stinging, and instead watched Nami with downturned lips.

She had hoped to avoid the entire Arlong Park debacle entirely. She had wanted Nami to stay with her, to let them defeat Arlong and save the navigator from the despair that would suffocate her until she choked against the force of her own tears.

_What an idiot I am... I didn't realise..._

Because in the end, it didn't matter that Nami thought she was working on Arlong's orders, or that she actually wasn't; the result was the same. It was quickly becoming clear how cruel Luffy was being, telling the girl to throw away years and years of sweat and blood and tears and pain just because she wanted to swoop in and save the day.

However, that didn't mean she would just give up here. If Nami wanted to do it that way, then who was she to try and stop her? There was no reason to force everything to follow the exact same series of events as it had done in the original timeline, not when there were so many other ways to make everything better.

"You don't have to kill _anyone_ for it," Luffy told her, mouth set in a determined line. "Because I'll make sure myself Arlong won't be able to stop you. If he so much as touches the money you've gathered, I'll punch him into the ground."

The black-haired girl watched as bubbling fury slowly bled into bewilderment. "W-what? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that if you've decided that's how you're going to save Cocoyashi, then I'm going to beat up anyone who tries to stop you."

"Why would you—_are you making fun of me_?"

Luffy's eyes flared with heat. "I would never, _ever_, mock someone else's determination!" Her voice was soft, but every word sounded through the silence like the crashing of waves against the shoreline. "Whether that determination is changing the shape of the world, or escaping the bonds of your family, or finding a reason to live, or becoming the greatest swordsman in the world, or even being my rival for Pirate King, I will never, ever, ever, _ever_ laugh!"

"You—Pirate King?"

She bulldozed on. "Nami. I know you're smart and strong and capable and stubborn. But sometimes even the strongest people need help. No one can do everything alone, that's why we have friends and family and nakama! If your dream is to pry Cocoyashi away from Arlong, I'll help you steal as much money as you need until it's done. If your dream is breaking free from his grip, I'll hold that bastard down so you can sever those chains with your own two hands. If your dream is to draw a map of everything in the whole wide world, I'll get the best ship and crew you've ever seen so we can travel the seas together!" She took a deep breath and concentrated all of her excess energy in the exhale. This next part would need delicacy, and not the loud brashness that she was so prone to.

Face softening, Luffy reached forward as if to a wild animal, her movements slow and soothing as she gently took the other girl's hands in her own smaller ones. She peered up into tremulous honey brown and said, softly as she could, "So please, join my crew. Please, Nami… please be my nakama."

_Please let me help_ was left unsaid but rang just as clearly in the air trapped between them.

"_Why?_" came a hoarse whisper in a voice that she barely recognized as Nami's.

"Because," Luffy said simply. "I like your heart."

"My... heart?" The older girl's eyes bled clear dewdrops that lingered even after they were angrily swiped away, and her next words were oddly vulnerable. "You're not trying to trick me? You're not... You're not going to use me too?"

"Never," Luffy swore. "If I ever try to make you do anything you hate, you can hit me as many times as you want. If I ever do something unforgivable, just tell me you don't want to be my nakama anymore, and I'll scram so you don't ever have to see my face again. As long as it's of your own free will, I won't stop you from leaving. And if I ever get in the way of your dreams... you can kick me overboard."

Nami let out a choked giggle at the last part, probably imagining what that would look like, a captain being sent to walk the plank of her own ship by the navigator. Luffy suspected she didn't know what being tossed overboard meant for a devil fruit user.

Well, whatever. It was nice to hear her laugh.

"Um, hey... About that..." Nami mumbled, pointing hesitantly at the red hand mark on Luffy's cheek.

"It's fine," Luffy reassured her, smiling. "If you need, you can even do it again."

"I can... I can 'do it again'?" The navigator parroted. Her pretty face slowly twisted into an amalgamation of disbelief and exasperation. "And you're asking me why I felt bad for you? You're too nice! Like a doormat that everyone can walk over."

"I don't let people walk over me!" Luffy replied, a little annoyed. "Like when anyone I hate touches my hat, I pound them."

In fact, she was only willing to let Nami do such a thing because she was Nami. If, for example, Alvida had attempted such a thing...

Well, Luffy could only disclose that a Pistol to the face wasn't all she'd be getting.

"Fine, fine, whatever you say." Nami briskly scrubbed her face and stood up. "Just so you know, this doesn't mean I trust you or anything. I'm just taking you up on your offer, okay?"

"Shishishishi!" Luffy grinned widely and reached out to wrap herself around her new crewmate. "OKAY!"

Even though she grumbled about not being able to breathe and pushed out at rubbery arms and legs, Luffy could feel Nami's lips curving into a smile against her shoulder.

* * *

*Majū (魔獣) - the kanji lit. means "witch; demon; evil spirit" (魔, ma) and "animal; beast" (獣, juu). Together it means demonic beast. Technically, Zoro's full epithet when spoken out loud is now "Majū no Roronoa Zoro" which translated is "Demon(ic) Beast Roronoa Zoro." He actually is called that in the manga but just as a description, not as a title (as Luffy mentioned above).

* * *

**Notes **—

I really do hate bras. I accept that they are necessary evils, but in the One Piece world (where everyone's boobs are bouncy and gravity defying), why would the rubber Luffy choose to keep wearing them? Therefore, no bra. (Oh, Ace.)

Actually Luffy is a crybaby here, for some things at least. Because 1) he was originally a bit of a crybaby anyway, 2) women tend to be more publicly emotional, whether due to social convention or psychological differences (probably the former) and mostly because 3) semi-selfinsert. Luffy's stuck with some of my traits (not all though; this is 'semi' self-insert for more than one reason) and I get teary very easily. Usually I hide away when I can't suck them back in, as Luffy is trying to do here, because it's embarrassing? Ahaha...

You may wonder why Nami isn't asking 'how would you know something like that', and one reason is that she thinks Arlong himself sent Luffy to persuade her to stop her activities, and that the girl just changed sides because she didn't want to. The other reason will be explored in chapter 6.

(First edited May 2016, last edited October 2016.)

_[10/01/16: beta'd by beribboned. number one tofu of my heart! __saikou desu!__]_


	5. Beat Down

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Five: Beat Down**

* * *

Zoro rolled his eyes at the posturing of this idiot and his idiot lion. Wasn't he even embarrassed? Trying to beat up a scruffy little dog like this just to get at some pet food.

"Lions are carnivores, you moron," the swordsman snapped. He casually grasped the hilts of his two swords and distributed weight forward to his right foot. "They don't even eat pet food. Now move."

The moron made a dumbass face at him. "I know more about lions than you ever would, stuuupid! Right Ritchie?"

"Whatever, you freak show. Just get out of my way. I need to find Buggy and his pirates."

"Why are you looking for Captain Buggy? Thinking of joining us?" The furry freak threw back his head and postured some more. "Hahahaha! Sorry, but we don't accept weaklings!"

Zoro ignored the insult that he would have killed the other man for a month ago. "Captain, huh... I guess that justifies me doing this."

In a flash, two swords emerged from their black sheaths and he kicked off from packed dirt with only a burst of reflected light as fanfare. Just as the swordsman crossed his arms to strike, he remembered Luffy - '_if you can avoid it..._' - and he twisted the blades around so the dull sides faced outwards.

Two distinct bodies thudded to the ground behind him.

(It was good training, after all. To be a great swordsman was rather similar to being a good lover; you had to be as gentle as you were forceful, and Zoro knew he needed a bit more practice with the second than he was comfortable with.

The day he learned to strike with the blade of his sword without killing was soon. He could feel it in his very marrow, could see it in the molten, burning umber of his captain's eyes, could taste it in her warm blood that had willingly anointed Kuina's sword.)

Zoro sheathed his swords with a flick of his wrists and turned to the dog. "I don't suppose _you_ know where Buggy is?"

The little white canine just stared calmly at him.

"Ah, guess not. This freak came from the right, so he's probably over there..." Zoro walked down the street and turned left.

* * *

Luffy rounded the corner to anxious shouts and muted barks.

"What - who did this?! Shushu, are you hurt anywhere?"

_No!_ she thought. _The pet store… It isn't already…?_

"Luffy?" she heard Nami calling worriedly as she rushed down the street to find -

A perfectly intact series of buildings, an unharmed white dog, one shocked old man, and an ugly ass pirate collapsed on the ground next to his equally ugly lion. Luffy felt a glow in her chest when she spotted the rise and fall of Mohji's furry back. Zoro had actually taken her suggestion - because it certainly hadn't been an order - to heart, and that made her really happy.

"Hey! You kids over there! Do you have any idea what's happened here?"

"Sorry mister, but we just got here as well - "

Luffy left Nami to talk to the old mayor and bent down to pat Shushu on the head. "I bet you were really brave, huh? Protecting your treasure from a big thug like that."

The little dog gave a soft 'whuff' and butted into her hand, tail thumping against the ground.

"Yeah." A faint smile curled her lips. "Your old man would have been proud."

"Hey Luffy, shouldn't we be looking for that Zoro guy?"

"Oh, you're right! I bet he's completely lost by now! Hey Shushu, have you seen my friend? He has a black bandanna and three swords, real tough looking."

Shushu barked in agreement.

"Which way did he go?"

The dog considered her for a moment before tottering to his feet and slowly ambling towards the other end of the road.

"Shushu, what are you...?"

"Hey mister," Luffy began. She turned to Boodle with a grin. "This is a really great town. So don't worry, okay? Because I'll protect it for you."

"H-huh?"

Luffy grabbed Nami's hand and pulled her after the waiting Shushu, leaving an absolutely bewildered old man in her wake.

* * *

"Ah, Zoro, there you are!"

Said man turned at the familiar voice. "Luffy, you gave me bad directions."

"Huh?" Luffy cocked her head and scratched behind her ear. "I did? That's weird, I don't remember giving any directions."

"That's because you didn't," Nami sighed. "You're both idiots. Buggy's by the tavern, on the other side of town. How'd you even get over here?" Luffy was bending down and talking to the dog - Shushu or Chouchou or something - so she took the chance to snidely add, "Is your sense of direction like a beast's too?"

To her surprise, Zoro didn't react to the insult. "You're still here, huh? What did Luffy say to you?"

"That's - that's between me and her."

"I don't know why Luffy is so insistent on your being our navigator, but…" He angled her a dark look. "I don't trust you."

She shot him one right back. "And I don't trust either of you. The moment 'Captain' reneges on her word or gets in my way, I'm making good on her promise of tossing her overboard."

* * *

Zoro smirked. That sounded awfully familiar. Would Luffy make such promises with all of her future crewmates? It looked like the entire crew would be forged by oaths on the Captain's life at the rate this was going.

Well, that was her decision. It wasn't his business how freely she gave her life away, after all. It only mattered how she decided to use his.

Luffy suddenly stood up, her waving hand infringing upon the glaring match being held between her only crewmates. "Bye, Shushu! Thanks a bunch!" She glanced between Nami and Zoro and tilted her head. "What are you guys doing? You look constipated."

The way the swordsman watched his captain wasn't quite devoted, but it wasn't hostile either. A marked difference from the vicious look he had directed at Nami (and indeed, at most other people he met). "Nothing at all. Weren't we supposed to go find that Buggy guy?"

"Oh yeah!" Luffy bounced on the balls of her feet - another part of her anatomy bounced with her, Zoro couldn't help but notice - and bounded down a random direction. They waited. A few moments later, she sheepishly shuffled back and rubbed the back of her head as she asked, "Where did you say Buggy was, again?"

In an uncomfortable display of coordination, both the first mate and navigator rolled their eyes.

* * *

"Nami."

The navigator glanced at Luffy with a question on her lips. (She was still uncomfortable with calling anyone her captain, particularly in the security of her own mind. Sure, she called Arlong that in front of the fishmen on occasion, but that was lip-service. She didn't mean it. If she called Luffy that right now, she still wouldn't really mean it, so she didn't bother.)

"Buggy probably has a lot of treasure hidden somewhere, right?"

"Oh, yeah! That's right, he's got a whole bunch stored away in a warehouse."

"Can you handle getting all that by yourself?" Unsaid was the premise of 'while Zoro and I dispatch the Buggy Pirates'.

"It should be fine, I can take care of a few thugs on my own. I might need help carrying all of it though."

"That's okay. We'll come help after we're done."

"Wait, how are we going to split this? A third to each of us?" If the girl said any less, she would leave immediately.

"Hmm." Luffy put a finger to her chin. "I think you should have all of it. What do you think, Zoro?"

Nami stopped and stared at Luffy with wide eyes.

"I don't mind," the swordsman said. He looked bored out of his mind, like they weren't talking about giving up what was sure to be millions of beli.

Millions! Not even a few thousand, millions!

Nami's eyes flicked back and forth between the two. Was this a trick? A test? Were they trying to see how loyal she was? But that couldn't be it; she'd explicitly told them that she wasn't, and the Demon had already made it clear that he knew it too.

She considered Luffy's absent gaze, and decided the girl might be enough of a chump to do such a thing... but what was Roronoa Zoro's game? Why would _he _be willing to give up his share?

Maybe they were just idiots?

Just to clarify, she repeated, "You're going to give all the treasure. To me."

Roronoa didn't even spare her a glance. "We have enough supplies back on our boat. It's not necessary at the moment."

"Yup!" The pirate girl looked at her with eyes that were all of a sudden not so absent. "You need it, don't you? For your goal."

Or maybe Luffy was making good on her promises, and Zoro was following his captain's lead.

"Well… Then, the warehouse is that way." She separated from the group and lifted a hand in parting. "See you when you're done."

Nami allowed her lips to curve up in the corners as she walked away.

Maybe... maybe this time she had found something truly good.

* * *

Luffy considered the seemingly innocuous tavern that loomed at the end of the street. She could just go and attack... But that would cause a ton of property damage, and she'd already said that she would protect this town. And she couldn't leave behind any beli for the civilians either, since she'd promised it all to Nami.

What was key here, she decided, was getting rid of that stupid cannon before it was fired at the town.

"Hey Zoro, how are you with cutting metal?"

He looked thoughtful. "With these two," he began, tapping the two black swords, "Maybe an inch of iron. With this one here though..." His thumb flicked out the tsuba of the Wado Ichimonji and flicked it back in an instant. It looked a bit like an established habit, Luffy thought. "A half foot or so. I haven't tried anything thicker before, but it might be possible."

She perked up with sparkling eyes, amazed. "Really?! That's so _cool_!" She blinked and then lightly slapped her cheeks. "Ah, not the time..."

Zoro smirked at the praise. "What did you want me to cut?"

"Cannons. I only know of one, but Buggy might have more. I need you to make it so that none of them will work."

She had no clue how one went about destroying cannons, but slicing them through seemed like a safe bet. In fact, he probably didn't have to sever completely through the iron to make it dysfunctional; only the key components. Luffy ignored the niggling in the back of her mind that said something was strange about Zoro's awesome ability, because her fingers were itching and someone was going to have to pay for the bruises littering Shushu's skin, visible even through layers of fur, and the villagers currently corralled over on the connected island, kicked out of their own homes by these inconsiderate intruders, the older men and women wondering if this town would be leveled to ashes like the last one had been, if their children and grandchildren would have to stagger through the pain of losing a lifetime of stored memories as they had because of some lowdown, dirty pirates.

"I'll find a way," said her first mate, drawing Luffy's attention away from the slowly simmering anger in her gut.

She flashed him something that resembled a smirk but was rather too devious to be labeled such. "How about we drop in and give them a nice little surprise?"

He raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Hold on tight!"

"Oi, Luffy - !"

She wrapped an arm around the swordsman's waist and streeeetched the other up to the ledge of the open roof where the Buggy Pirates were sure to be partying.

And Zoro said, "Shit."

With an "_AHAHAHA!"_ she shot the both of them up so that they flew high over the edge of the building. They spent several breaths airborne, weightless and free, before gravity called in its debt and they began to fall. Luffy spotted Buggy gaping up at them from his makeshift throne and recalled her arm from Zoro's body so that she could reach for the clown instead. The swordsman seemed to have decided to make something about of her recklessness and had drawn his swords in the moments she had looked away.

As Luffy's hands grabbed the wooden frame of the large chair, her first mate started to spin his weapons. The two of them fell as only weapons of mass destruction could do, Zoro descending in a lethal tornado of blades and her own feet set to ram several tons of force in Buggy's dumbstruck face.

Impact.

With incoherent shouts sounding from the rest of the roof, Luffy straightened in the midst of a cloud of sawdust and wood chips, a groaning pirate captain under her feet.

But... it wasn't the whole captain. A head rolled along on the ground, not directly damaged but eyes wide and protrudent and lips rolled out in pain.

_Damn, that's creepier in real life._

The brush of fabric against her bare ankles caught her by surprise. Two floating hands grabbed her legs in a bruising grip and tossed her off as the main body began to twitch back to a sitting position.

"Woah," said Luffy. She arched herself backwards and caught the ground by her hands to flip onto her feet.

"What the flashy fuck was that?!" roared the decapitated head. It was floating now, and reattached to the rest of himself with a _plop_. He spat out wads of blood on the ground between grimaces.

"Huh. You're pretty sturdy. Guess it'll take a bit more than that."

"Of course it'll take more than that if you want to kill the flashy me! But wait, who are you?"

Luffy opened her mouth to answer before dropping to the ground as a hand clenching a knife flew over her head. "Bastard! You fight dirty!"

"And you don't?!" Buggy snapped back, a blood vessel swelling angrily on his temple. He cradled his chest area with a handless arm. She'd probably broken a rib or five, Luffy thought. Good thing she'd changed trajectory at the last second, or else she would have missed entirely.

"'S not _my_ fault you react so slowly." Luffy jumped high into the air to avoid several more knives and grabbed a far off tent pole, visibility slowly improving under the hazy yellow blanketing their near vicinity. She tightened the rubber of her arm to snap her forward, whizzing straight past Buggy with an arm extended in a clothesline. Gomu Gomu no Sickle it would have been called if she was so inclined to announce herself.

"Ha! You missed!"

Except she hadn't. As she flew through the air and rounded the pole back towards the other captain (bowling over a couple dozen Buggy pirates as she did so), she coaxed the strands of rubber in her right arm to weaken their elasticity, allowing the significant centrifugal force to stretch her further and further out until she was just at the right length to slam her forearm into the other man's throat. By the look on his face, he realized it too.

"Bara Bara emergency escape!"

Luffy smirked, having expected that. With a moment of intense concentration, belied only by a single blink, she cross-linked the long chains of polyisoprene molecules in her left knee and shot forward the vulcanized rubber to slam into his groin.

Pain rang concentric circles in black pupils as a high keen erupted from Buggy the Clown's throat.

So she fought a little dirty too. It wasn't like the guy didn't deserve it. He would have hurt Shanks's hat, given the chance, so she couldn't manage to scrounge up any sympathy for the blood sputtering out of his lips, or the tears streaming down his cheeks, nevermind that he would have done the same if given the chance and who was she kidding she felt pretty damn lousy for being so lowdown. He hadn't actually _done_ anything to her, not like he had to the other Luffy.

"Ahahaha... sorry…" she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck and skidding to a stop. Her right arm snapped back to her side as Buggy squeaked out a response.

(She was willing to bet her gomu gomu he wasn't saying 'It's okay'.)

Too distracted by the horrific - and unfortunately hilarious - vision of agony before her, Luffy didn't realize that both of Buggy's hands were still missing.

* * *

Every year, on November 1, Shimotsuki Village held a festival to celebrate the onset of their namesake. This being East Blue the actual frost wouldn't come until December loomed over the horizon, but that was all the better for enjoying the day of merriment - or so the adults had said. Zoro had been coaxed to take part once, just once, by battling Kuina for the 1827th time. There had been a wager then, that Zoro would attend the festival with Kuina the next day if he lost.

At the time he had wondered why the other guy wanted him to go to something frivolous like that when Zoro could be training... But now, eleven years later, he knew that it was because he had been the only one even close to being considered Kuina's friend. After all, no child wanted to associate with a boy so frighteningly devoted to the sword, who lived and breathed blades and nothing else - except one similarly fervid. Only he had been stupidly persistent enough to insist on battling the dojo heir over and over and over again.

He had lost. Miserably. It might have been his childish imagination, but Kuina had seemed even more of a challenge than usual.

The two of them had stayed until the very conclusion of the festival, somehow managing to turn everything into a competition: who could catch the most goldfish (Kuina), who could eat the most takoyaki (Kuina), who could score the most rings (Kuina), who could triumph in several games of karuta (Kuina), who could win the most luck games (Zoro), and finally, who could collect the most confetti.

The last one had been a tie. Zoro still remembered the mess they had made on the floor of the dojo, where they had brought their spoils to compare. The two had accused the other of counting falsely and gotten into fisticuffs over it - or rather, Zoro had thrown a punch and the other boy had gleefully given him a matching bruise, the resulting brawl scattering colourful spirals of tissue amidst tightly woven straw.

Kind of like now, actually. Except there was no one to pound his face in like Kuina had done, and the paper scraps were replaced with groaning pirates, strewn on their backs like gaudy ornaments no one wanted.

Destroyed cannons littered the roof, each roughly hacked into two with several dozen swings of Kuina's sword. There was a thin shroud of tan partially concealing Luffy from view. Zoro contemplated going to help, but then nudged a Buggy pirate with the toe of his shoe - some idiot named Cababi or Dabaji who seemed to fancy himself in the same league as Zoro - and decided if she was weak enough to lose to the man leading these clowns, she didn't deserve to be his captain.

As if in refute of such a thought, the lower half of a body that was decidedly not Luffy's came flying out of the dust. Following close behind was the dismembered upper body, his face a mask of fury and not a little pain. The girl herself tore out after it, scowling as she chased the flying torso to the edge of the roof.

Zoro's eyes flickered towards the stump of a waist a few feet away and determined that yes, those were probably that other guy's legs trotting away from him. Well, Luffy _had_ warned him about Buggy's devil fruit abilities, though it was much more freakish to actually see it in action.

The former bounty hunter watched as Buggy's torso flew off the roof, and Luffy grabbed onto it before it could leave. Buggy just flew higher and lifted the two of them off the roof as he whizzed in the direction of the warehouse. Where that conniving witch would be.

Ah. That made sense; there was no way the treasure obsessed Buggy the Clown wouldn't have set an alarm in the case of thieves.

But while his captain took care of that...

Zoro strode over to a nearby sack and emptied the contents onto the floor. He then drew his sword from its black sheath and set upon Buggy's lower half with a vicious grin.

He'd never made sashimi before, but he reckoned it'd be much the same.

* * *

"Flashily let go of me! You strawhat bastard!" Buggy thrashed in the rubber net she had made with her fingers to make sure that no parts of him would be flying off without her.

Luffy stretched out a foot and hooked it on a lamppost, but Buggy just kept straining forward until it slipped off. The warehouse was too near the tavern for her to be able to do much to stop him; the least she could do was hold on tight and be there to protect Nami.

"No way! We're in the middle of a fight! You can't just run off!"

"What fight?! You just came out of nowhere and attacked me! I can flashily run off as much as I like!"

They were coming onto the warehouse now, just as Nami stepped out of it with a large bag of something.

"You damn unflashy thief! Don't touch my treasure!"

The girl glanced up with alarmed eyes as Buggy picked up speed. The two hands that had shot off earlier flew into sight from within the bowels of the building with several knives clutched between their fingers. They were each pointed to Nami's unsuspecting back.

Luffy's eyes widened and then narrowed as she made a split second decision.

"DON'T TOUCH MY NAVIGATOR!" she roared. Using Buggy's own momentum against him, she used her netted fingers to swing him back and push herself forward. As she fell towards Nami, she sucked in her gut and concentrated.

_Thinner... wider… Stretch, more, more, more..._

_More!_

Luffy settled around her crewmate just in time; all five of the approaching knives sunk into the rubber girl's back, cutting straight through her skin and becoming trapped mere inches from their original destination.

"Luffy!" Nami crawled out from underneath the protective bubble of skin and rubber and hurriedly snatched the knives out. Luffy relaxed and allowed her torso - stretched out thin like the fabric of an inflated balloon - to contract back to its usual shape, barely paying any mind to the gashes going straight through her as she sat up. "You idiot! You didn't need to do that! I would have deflected them!"

Chocolate brown eyes noted the long staff that lay next Nami's bent legs, and an enlightened look came upon her face. "Ah!" Luffy exclaimed, bringing down a fist on her open palm. "I see! That's actually a pretty good tactic, isn't it?"

"That's the _only _reasonable tactic!" Nami snapped. But despite the heat in her voice, her hands fluttered worriedly over Luffy's stomach.

Luffy just grinned at shot to her feet. "Don't worry about that, Nami. Just focus on Buggy for now."

"What, you mean him?"

"Yup, him!"

She blinked.

That Buggy that had refused to go down from even an extreme groin shot was the same Buggy who was passed out a few feet away, his eyes twirling and a large bump erupting from his head. Boodle stood over the pirate with a steel bat still raised in both hands and a shocked look on his face.

Zoro lingered beside a little ways away from both of the men, looking both amused and worried. There was a large bag slung over his shoulder.

"I-it worked… I actually managed to protect the town from Captain Buggy…!"

Luffy blinked, equally surprised, and then threw back her head and laughed. There was a dismayed cry from Nami at the spurts of blood that spilled over her hands as she attempted to wrap the wounds up. "You sure did, mister! Good shot!"

"I didn't think it'd be so easy…" the old man mumbled, looking confused.

"Oi Luffy, I've got the rest of his body here." The bag was tossed to her feet and Luffy perked up.

"Wow, Zoro! You're great! How'd you know?"

"Know what?"

"What we have to do next!" Luffy reached in with both arms and fished around for Buggy's feet. She then grabbed the limp, dismembered hands a few feet away and tried to puzzle them together. "Huh, I guess it doesn't really work when someone else does it." She glanced up. "Zoro, can you go get me Buggy's head?"

He readied a sword. "Just the head?"

"Yup."

There was a shout of outrage from beside her. Luffy turned her head to see Nami looking horrified and a little betrayed. "Buggy's already knocked out! He can't even do anything! Why do you have to kill him on top of it?!" She began to mouth something else - Luffy could read the words '_I thought you were..._' rolling off her lips - but seemed to think better of it before those words were given voice.

"Shishishi, silly Nami," said Luffy, her smile softening. "Buggy won't die. He's just going to go on an adventure so he can learn to appreciate his nakama."

"Look closely, Navigator." Zoro tossed Buggy's head at Luffy's feet as she worked on tying up the rest of the limbs together.

She watched her new navigator do a double take at the twitching torso currently being wrapped up in thick ropes. "It's... it's moving!"

"Uhn." Luffy rolled the package of body parts behind Nami's knees and pushed her shoulders down. "I need you to sit on this for me."

"This... feels... disgusting..." the girl said faintly, still shocked.

Luffy glanced at Boodle, wondering why he was so quiet, and realised he was gone.

"The old guy said something about going to get the other villagers," Zoro commented casually from the doorway of the warehouse. "Probably to flush out the rest of these pirates. Though we've already done that."

_Is Zoro... psychic?_ she wondered in awe, staring at where her first mate had been standing. He wasn't even looking at her! That was so cool!

"Uh, Luffy - " Nami began.

"WHO ATTACKED THE FLASHY ME FROM BEHIND?" roared a familiar voice. "WAS IT YOU, STRAWHAT?!"

Ah, he was so loud. She dug a pinky into her ear. "Nope."

"Then who was it?! After I'm done with you, I'm going to kill that bastard!"

Oh, that was probably bad. He could come back after he recovered his body, after all. "I lied," Luffy backtracked cheerfully. "I did it. Guess you only have to kill me, huh?" Her grin took on a taunting edge. "That is, if you can."

"Why you - ! Bara Bara parts assemble!"

She chortled at the horror on his face when he realised he was several feet closer to the ground than he should be.

"Nishishi... Is Chibi-Buggy ready for an adventure?"

Panic manifested on his entire face. "Wait! Wait, wait, wait, Mugiwara - "

Luffy threw her arms far behind her.

" - can't we come to some sort of understanding? I haven't even done anything to you!"

"Gomu Gomu no..."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT? GOLD? TREASURE? I'LL GIVE IT TO YOU!"

"Bazooka!"

Chibi-Buggy shot into the distance until he was just a twinkle in the sky. Luffy shaded her eyes and whistled at the distance. "Nice."

Nami jumped to her feet. "W-what - what the hell was that? And earlier too!"

"Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!" Luffy told her with a grin and a cheesy thumbs up. She was met with a twitching eyebrow and a flick to the forehead.

"I wasn't asking for the name!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy grabbed a cheek and stretched it out. "I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi, so I'm a rubber human!"

"Gomu Gomu... no Mi?"

"It's a Devil Fruit," said Zoro as he came back out of the warehouse with two large sacks in each hand. "Yo Luffy, there're three more back there."

"Okay!"

Luffy skipped into the warehouse as Nami said, "I thought those were myths!"

* * *

The three of them walked back to Luffy's fishing boat, which they learned was docked next to Nami's own stolen ship. A large bag of treasure was balanced precariously - and rather ridiculously - on top of Luffy's face, and she held another in each hand. Her head was tilted almost completely back and she couldn't see where she was going, but Nami's delighted giggles were near enough to follow.

The treasure swayed. She swayed with it.

Zoro, walking behind her, tapped her lightly on the head with a sword handle. His other arm had been using his four bags as substitute weights, last she saw. "Why didn't you tell the old guy what really happened? Buggy wouldn't have gone down like that if you hadn't beaten him up beforehand."

"Nah," she said. "It's the best feeling, you know... knowing you've protected something you love. The mayor deserves that. He was really brave, to risk doing something like that for his village." Because in any other situation, Buggy really would have turned around and killed him. The old mayor had thought that could happen - had _expected_ it, from his reaction. But he had done it anyway. "Besides, he _was _the one who took down Buggy. Not me."

"... If you say so."

She couldn't see his expression, but she imagined Zoro was giving her one of those side looks he was so good at.

Whatever. It was true. She would have stuck out her tongue, but he wouldn't have seen it anyway.

Luffy's stride paused for a half second when she heard Nami shout in alarm. She calmly lifted the sack off of her face and continued walking.

There was a crowd of villagers gathered at the docks, makeshift weapons in their hands. An old man at the front of the crowd stepped forward at their arrival with a grave expression.

"Are you the ones who defeated the pirates at the tavern and destroyed the cannons?"

Zoro stepped forward and stood at her side with a wary glare, while Nami slyly sidled behind them.

Luffy cocked her head. "And if we are?"

"I see. In that case, there is only one way we can respond."

All three of them tensed as the mob surged forward as a whole... and bowed.

"Thank you! So much!"

Well there was her plan to leave quietly shot to hell.

"Truthfully, we weren't really sure how to repay you," and here Nami began to step forward with gleaming eyes, but Luffy put a hand on the other girl's arm and shook her head. "But we decided that the universal currency would have to work."

"Universal currency?" Nami asked, clearly thinking of gold. Skypiea would shock her, Luffy thought. In more ways than one.

"Ahaha, there's really no need to go so far," Luffy rubbed the back of her head. She'd actually have preferred the angry mob. That would have been hilarious. And exciting. And awesome.

Actually, she was beginning to really want one of those, now that she thought about it.

_Next time_, she promised herself. She would definitely find a way to be chased by an angry mob next time.

"We've got the food!" the mayor's voice called. He and a group of villagers trotted up to them pulling a cart full of crates and barrels.

"Food?" Luffy perked up immediately. "What kind of food? _Salad_?"

"You might want to look away," she heard Zoro saying to the crowd. "We ran out of lettuce a while ago..."

"Erm, yes, the fresh vegetables are in these three crates - "

"Mister! You're the best!" Luffy attacked the old mayor with a hug and then descended upon the large crate as a flock of ravens would upon the carcass of a great beast.

In other words, it was not a pretty sight.

"I'll eat salad," she mumbled through a full mouth. "And become Pirate King!"

Zoro sighed and tilted her hat to shadow her bulging face from the wide eyed spectators.

* * *

**AN**

Never before in one of my stories have I paid this much attention to breasts before. Luffy's guaranteed carelessness with her body means that I can have lots of fun with this. (Sakura, Rose, and Kane all have a fair understanding of what is socially acceptable in their respective worlds. Luffy… doesn't.)

And. Cause. You know. _Boobies_.

By the by, Zoro will be mentally testing Luffy over and over again until his loyalty becomes fully cemented.

**Important Note**

You may be thinking, "Wait a second, Zoro can't cut thick iron at this point! He said Luffy's steel cage bars were too thick to cut! Whaddyu mean a half foot?"

(He still can't cut steel very well, by the way. Iron is just easier. And he can't hear the breath of things, he's just doing this through brute strength.)

Let me get this out first:

The Strawhat Pirates are all going to be starting out stronger than they were in canon. That is, all except Luffy, who will be weaker.

Not weak. Just... weaker.

Now you might be going, "Whaaat?!"

Yep. This is all a consequence of Luffy being born as a woman, which caused a backlash in the One Piece universe. It's not a case of 'women are physically weaker', which - while potentially true - is stupid and overused.

Actually, it's all Ace and Garps fault.

In canon, Luffy is a cute but bratty little boy who runs away from his gramps and argues with his big brother at the first chance he gets. So Ace can beat him up all he wants without guilt, and Garp has no compunction against throwing the kid into all kinds of ridiculous situations 'to make him a stronger man'.

This Luffy is just as cute and just as bratty, but she's much cuddlier... and she's a girl. Which forces Ace to subconsciously pull his punches a little - just a _little_ \- and Garp just can't look into those big brown eyes and throw her into that tiger's den (because who else will willingly cuddle with him and go "Grandpaaa! I missed you~!").

The OP world can be rather chauvinistic. You can't honestly say that gender equality is a big thing there.

Lucky for her, our Luffy is a tad more clever than original Luffy and a helluva lot more informed, so this isn't generally a problem. However, there are times when that little bit of lacking firepower actually will become a problem. This is why we need the rest of the Strawhats to be stronger (yes, including Nami and Usopp) to make up for it.

I'll provide reasoning for why a certain genderbent character would result in that particular Strawhat becoming stronger if you can't tell from the vague hints I'm dropping (so just ask). But only for those who have already been revealed. So far, only Kuina and Zoro will be free for questions.

**TL;DR -** **Basically the universe is compensating for Luffy's femaleness by genderbending minor characters (emphasis on minor) to bring things back on track. Because of Garp and Ace, Luffy is weaker, therefore other Strawhats are stronger. And cuddliness is very important in character development.**

**Reviews**

**MHWh**: um yes. XD

Please review, even if it's just one word! I like to know how my readers feel about the various developments I'm adding in or else I'll constantly be worrying about it.

But thank you to everyone who did review (esp. Aero Dream for that fantastic whopper), and those who favourited and alerted! :)

And don't be afraid to tell me some of your suggestions and any of the things you want to see. If they're plausible, or if I find them useful, or I like them, I may add them in. Please take note that by the time I post a chapter I will already be finished the chapter after that and working on the next, though.


	6. Lonely Women

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Six: Lonely Women**

* * *

_Knowing you've protected something you love is the best feeling in the world._

Nami wouldn't know. Nearly her entire life had been haunted by her inability to protect _anyone_, so there was no way she was in any position to determine the accuracy of such a statement. But knowing that she couldn't do a single damn thing if Arlong decided to raze Cocoyashi to dirt hurt more than pain itself, so maybe the girl was onto something there.

Even as she had giggled about her new gains, she had listened in on her 'crewmates' entire conversation. Of course she had. Sure she had agreed to follow Luffy - for now - but no way would she let down her guard for a second. There was the possibility that Luffy really had been contacted by Arlong, after all. How else could she know about the Cocoyashi situation and the deal Nami had made with the cruel bastard? Even the marines didn't know.

But then again, somehow the thought that those two were working with each other just felt _wrong_. Other than the instinctive - and probably false - belief that Luffy wouldn't lie to her, reason dictated that Arlong would kill Luffy sooner than hire her. That girl was the type of person that Arlong hated the most - a hopeless dreamer, no respect for money, weak-hearted, a pushover, _human_, the list went on for a mile, not to mention that she didn't seem the type to be able to work under someone else's lead.

But then how had Luffy known?

She should ask. She had to ask. She knew why she hadn't yet; she was afraid that she would catch Luffy in a lie and then this pathetic hope of hers would be stomped into the dirt again.

_"I like your heart."_

What did that even mean? It was the corniest, most unbelievable thing she had ever heard. If a guy come onto her at a bar with that line, she would have laughed in his face.

_She _didn't even like her heart. To free Cocoyashi, anything went, and she didn't care what kind of grief she gave her victims so long as she didn't have any deaths on her conscience. Lying, stealing, conning, it was all fair game. Treachery was her second nature, one she could don like a coat; things like 'heart' and 'soul' and 'honor' were all useless on these seas. It was money that made the world go round.

Nami knew that. She knew that better than anyone else.

So then... why had that moved her so deeply? Why had she found herself so completely enthralled by the vision that Luffy had carved out? How had she allowed herself to get so caught up in that girl's pace that she ended agreeing to join another pirate crew, no matter how temporarily? She had done everything by herself until now, had preferred the solitude even, so why had the promise of 'nakama' drawn her in so deeply?

Nakama. It was such a normal word when she said it to herself like this. 'Fellow'.

But when Luffy said it, it sounded like the promise of a beautiful, unbreakable bond. Something about the way she spoke, something about the way she _looked _at you… the kind of pull she had was magnetic, and inescapable, and...

Dangerous.

That girl was _dangerous_.

Betrayal would be so easy. Not by Luffy, of course - there was nothing _to _betray on her side of the deal. The girl herself had made sure of that. But Nami could stab the her in the back easily, when everything was over and done with. That girl had offered so much, and demanded so little in return. Even when Nami had made it clear that she only thought of this as a business transaction, Luffy continued to look at her with trusting eyes.

It would be so simple.

Nami had all of the treasure that had been hidden away in Buggy's warehouse, every single gold piece, and it was sure to be worth a lot. By herself, she might have been able to drag out maybe one or two full sacks, but with these two pirates helping her, she now had eight bags of treasure on her boat (though they were admittedly not as large as they would have been if she had taken only the best).

She could just… leave. Luffy wouldn't be able to do anything about it, bound by her own words as she was. Majū no Zoro's hands would be similarly tied up by his captain's promises. The amount of money she could add to her cache from this one venture would probably be more than her five previous operations combined. There was nothing stopping Nami from leaving right now.

But she…

She didn't…

She didn't _want _to. She didn't _want _to leave.

She wanted to stay with Luffy, to see the portrait the girl had painted with her words come to fruition. She wanted to be able to lean on someone when she stumbled, to have someone hold her hand and smile at her when it became all too much. Sure, she had Cocoyashi, and Nojiko, but she had spent so long silently protecting them that she didn't think she _could_ bring herself to rely on them even if she told the villagers the truth. It was obvious that Luffy was the kind of person who would gladly carry her to her goal if Nami said she couldn't walk on her own feet anymore. She wanted that. She wanted the bond that the other girl was so wholeheartedly offering. She wanted to trust her, even though previous experience screamed at her to wisen up.

And it was this that made Luffy dangerous.

Nami sighed and made her way back to the boat she'd stolen from those Buggy pirates. Her new 'crew' had decided to wait for her on their own fishing boat while she went to get more bobby pins. Sturdier ones this time, so they wouldn't bend out of shape in the middle of lock picking.

_Should I stay with her? Or just go?_

"You bitch!"

"I don't know why my head hurts so much, but it must be your fault!"

Nami scowled and her hands flew so quickly they were a blur. Her staff appeared in her hands as if by magic as she stomped her way to the three buffoons in her path. "Shut up! I'm trying to think here!"

"We'll get you back for what you did - GWAK!" The butt of her weapon shot into the fat guy's throat. She twirled it and drove the length down on the back of his head. A swing of her arm smacked a cutlass from the hand of the idiot wearing the tuque and another plunged her staff into the afro guy's gut.

One unconscious, one groaning on the ground, and the third - she shot a foot out and slammed it into a groin - the third out for the count.

She ignored the defeated Buggy goons as she continued her original path. The staff was returned to sections and stored in its holster.

Do as her heart demanded, or as her mind directed?

She would count take stock of the treasure first, she decided. The quiet logic of numbers and money always helped to calm her down. Maybe she would come to a decision while she calculated the profit.

* * *

"Luffy!" A blur of orange crashed into Luffy's arms. Zoro shifted.

"Huh? Nami? What's wrong?"

"Seventeen million beli! Buggy had treasure worth _seventeen million beli_!"

"That's - that's good, isn't?" Luffy asked, confused. Nami nodded her head against her shoulder. "That's good, so why - why are you - crying?"

The navigator laughed breathlessly and turned to sprawl on the deck of the fishing boat, her head in Luffy's lap. Watery russet eyes peered up at her. "I now have one hundred and six million beli in my possession. Do you know what that means?"

Understanding brightened Luffy's face with a grin. "That's great!"

"Eight years," Nami said. "Eight years, and all it took was _you_! Ha! Haha!"

She laughed and laughed and laughed until she cried. Zoro sat silently in his corner and watched as Luffy smoothed a hand over the girl's forehead and wiped away her tears with her fingers.

He resheathed his sword.

* * *

"Nami, are you okay to stand up?" Luffy asked a while later. The older girl blinked open her eyes and she gave a half grin.

"Of course! Who do you think I am?" Nami sat up and turned to look at her. "Why, do your wounds hurt?"

"Nope. That old doctor from the town stitched them up real good. But I want to plan a course together so we can get to your village as soon as possible. We might have to make a few detours though, is that okay with you?"

"I've waited years for this, a few weeks won't make much of a difference," the navigator said cheerfully. "I'll go get my maps, so wait here, okay?"

She left with a skip in her step.

"You've already thought up our course?" Zoro asked Luffy, surprised. "You don't seem to be to type to plan ahead."

"'Cause I'm not," she told him. "But there are people I want in our crew no matter what, so I have to make sure we're going the right way."

So in the end, it was just her bull-headed stubbornness speaking again. He hadn't expected anything different, actually.

"That witch… she changes her personality too easily. I don't like it."

Luffy blinked. "Really? Nami seems exactly the same to me."

"Are you serious?" He gave her an incredulous look. "A few hours ago she was yelling at you for touching her... And now she's smiling and crying and hugging you. It's weird."

She stared at him blankly for a moment before comprehension dawned on her face. "Oh I get it!" He really doubted it. "Zoro didn't get his hug this morning, so he's sad!"

Yeah. He knew it'd be something ridiculous like that.

"You idiot," he groused. He didn't bother trying to escape from the arms suddenly throwing themselves around him. "You really don't get it at all, do you?"

"Don't get what?"

"Never mind," he sighed. "But more than that, how long is that witch going to stay with us?"

"Until we find One Piece! And afterwards too!" Luffy cheered. Then she deflated. "Or until she wants to leave. I promised that she could go whenever she wanted. I reaaaally hope she doesn't, but..."

"I could cut off her legs for you," Zoro offered.

She stared at him with wide eyes and started punching the part of him that was nearest - his back. "No! Bad Zoro! Horrible, horrible Zoro! Don't hurt our navigator! No cutting off any part of her, ever! You can't ever ever ever ever - "

He rolled his eyes and gripped her wrist lightly to make her stop. "Alright, alright I get it. No maiming the new crewmate."

" - ever do anything like that! Never ever!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Luffy, I have the maps." Their navigator exited the cabin on the stolen Buggy Pirates' boat and nonchalantly made her way towards the both of them. Luffy grinned and untangled herself from Zoro to make her way to a nearby crate.

As expected, Nami gave him a very wide berth.

He smirked at her. She shivered and sidled closer to Luffy.

Adequate punishment, he decided with a malicious chuckle. Because it really didn't take that long to grab a couple sheets of paper from an empty cabin.

* * *

Luffy traced a line along the map with her finger. "This is the general path I want to take. We can get a boat and another nakama over at this village, and then we'll go here, where we'll get a super awesome cook. Then we can go straight to Cocoyashi, and then to the Grand Line.

"Our next stop is this island right here. It's on the way and it'll only take an hour or so. I heard there's a mystical forest guardian there!"

Nami's brow raised skeptically. "A mystical forest guardian? And you believe that?"

"Uhn!" Luffy stared at her with round, excited eyes. "I wanna meet him! A real forest guardian! Isn't that _cooool_?"

"Cool. Yes." Nami deadpanned. "You do know that's it's probably not real?"

"Nami has no sense of adventure," she pouted. "It's real!"

"Uh-huh." And then suddenly a smirk grew on Nami's lips as she said, "How about we make a bet. Two thousand beli says there's no forest guardian."

"No. I don't want to make that bet."

"What? Why?"

"It'll be unfair of me. I don't want to take any of Nami's money."

The navigator scoffed. "Like that'll happen. Come on, don't be such a chicken. It's just two thousand."

* * *

"It's just two thousand," Zoro mocked.

Nami's hand trembled as she handed Luffy a thousand beli bill.

"If it's too hard, you don't have to," Luffy offered. The navigator's head snapped up and her other hand, clutching tightly onto another bill, paused in its path.

"Really?"

"No. You made the bet, now you have to deal with the consequences." Zoro was glared at viciously as Nami forfeited the second thousand to an amused Luffy.

"I wonder how much food I can buy with this... Ah, I want steak! Nami, how far to Syrup Village?"

"Four days," the navigator said primly, still glaring at Zoro.

Luffy pouted. "Can't we go any faster?"

"Well, if we take a course closer to the shorelines of the nearest large island we can angle our sails and use the Katabatic winds from the mountains to catch the open tide gates of their coastal waters. There'll be quite a few overfalls on that route, which is why I was planning to avoid it, but it'll cut down travel time by half."

Luffy stared at her blankly. "Sooo... We _can_ go faster?"

Nami sighed. "Yes, Luffy. Yes, we can go faster."

"Shishishi! What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

* * *

Luffy retreated into the cabin of her fishing boat with the excuse of drowsiness. Shutting the door behind her, she took a deep breath... and released the block.

"_Hah...hah..._" She panted from the exertion of holding in a scream as agony thundered through her entire body.

Being stabbed hurt.

Being stabbed in five places at once _hurt_.

Shit, thinking about how she allowed that damned Buggy get so many hits in pissed her off. She should have remembered to vulcanize her skin to minimize the damage, but she hadn't been thinking at all.

_Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

What was the point of learning the properties of rubber if she wasn't even going to use that knowledge? It had taken her so much effort to persuade gramps to get her those books - though maybe that was because she mentioned it was to help her become Pirate King - and so many horribly dull, dull, dull hours of attempted meditation trying to figure out how to manipulate the rubber molecules in her skin; to forget about all that at the first spark of panic... What if those knives hadn't stopped at her skin?

What if they had reached Nami?

Luffy was okay with being injured. Her body just needed a bit of rest and a whole bunch of meat, and it would get better in no time. But her navigator was fragile. If even just one if those blades had hit her in the wrong place, that was it. No more Nami.

Just the thought of it made her grit her teeth from more than just physical pain. Luffy stumbled to the only bed and crawled onto the sheets. She settled into a tight ball in an attempt to cease the convulsing of her muscles and closed her eyes. Maybe a little nap would help...

* * *

When Luffy woke up, she found that there was a comforting heat against her back. Feeling surprisingly well-rested, the noirette uncurled herself and peered over a shoulder.

Zoro sat on the floor, braced against the side of the low bed, chin tucked in and eyes closed. His broad shoulders had been pressed against the arch of her spine, keeping her warm even with the covers kicked to the foot of the bed.

Luffy twisted around and smiled at her first mate. "Thank-you," she said to his sleeping form.

Dropping a light kiss on his cheek, she quietly left the cabin to talk to Nami.

"Anytime, captain," Roronoa Zoro told the empty room, eyes still closed.

* * *

"Steak! Steak! Steak!" Luffy cheered as they entered the restaurant. "You're a pretty good guy! I think I'll let you join my crew!"

"I'll think about it... iffff you make me capta - !"

She flapped her hand back and forth. "Never mind."

The dejected looking Usopp led them to a seat while the two other pirates snickered at him.

Luffy slammed her fork and knife on the table and grinned at the woman standing at the foot of their table. "Four of your biggest steaks, auntie!" Almost as an afterthought, she added a, "Please!" The lady chuckled and went to make her order.

After a beat, Nami asked, "Usopp, right?"

"Correct! They call me the honourable Usopp!"

"You wouldn't happen to know where we can find a ship here, would you?"

"Yeah! A big one! A huge awesome ship!"

"Well, I wouldn't know about huge, but there's only one place to find a big ship around here..."

At the arrival of her first steak, Luffy tuned out the conversation entirely. By the time she had finished devouring her last one, Nami was saying, "Let's forget about finding a ship in this village."

Luffy grinned at her navigator. (Her heart really was so pretty.)

"Nami doesn't want to bother the ojou-sama because she's sad... So, if I make her all better then it'll be fine, right?"

"W-what?"

"Yosh!" She hopped to her feet, leaving a few bills on the table as she began to stride to the door.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"_Luffy_! That girl, really! She always goes by her own pace!"

"Leave her be. Once she's set her mind on something, there's really no stopping captain. More than that, can we get some more sake over here…?"

Luffy stepped out of the restaurant into the warmth of the afternoon sun. Now to find the mansion.

* * *

Kaya's bedroom was designed to be light and airy, with open spaces and pastel colors and large windows. Her parents had purposely paid for it to be that way. (_"Only the best for our princess!"_) But she couldn't keep from feeling suffocatingly crowded by the palpable grief layering every surface in the room. She herself knew she was the source of it, but still...

It was lonely. She wanted to talk to Usopp-san. Only he could chase away the encroaching shadows with his wonderful stories; whenever he got up to leave, she wanted to grab onto his hand and tell him to stay for just a bit longer.

She never did, of course. That would be incredibly selfish of her - he had his own life to live after all, and he was already wasting hours just talking to her.

Kaya coughed delicately into her shoulder, wary of the fact that Klahadore could be passing by her bedroom door at any moment. She didn't want to worry him anymore than she already was. After a moment's pause, she realized that Klahadore was out to town on an errand and allowed herself to capitulate to the rough wheeze caught in her lungs.

"Wow, are you okay?"

"Eeek!"

Kaya scrambled away from the open window, nearly falling off her bed from shock.

"W-who are you? How did you get in here?"

"Shishishi, I climbed the gate!" The strange girl grabbed her hand and tugged at her, trying to get Kaya to stand up. "This room is suffocating. Let's talk outside."

"Let go of me!" she yelped, tugging feebly at her arm. Where were the guards? Who was this girl? Klahadore was always warning her about people who would try to kidnap her so they could get richer. Was she one of those? Did she want ransom money?

"Okay." Kaya blinked in surprise when the girl let go of her and perched on the foot of her bed with a grin.

Large chocolate eyes and a guileless grin were set in a girlish, almost childlike face. This stranger didn't seem frightening at all, nothing close to the fearsome ghoul she had imagined in the rush of panic. Rather, she looked more like an excited puppy waiting for someone to play with her.

_Not a kidnapper...?_

"Who are you?" Kaya tried a second time.

"I'm Luffy! Could you please give me a ship? Usopp said you might have one."

"U-usopp-san did? Are you a friend of his?" And not anything more, she silently begged. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't know if she could handle knowing Usopp-san was already in a relationship.

"Nope, I just met him today." Kaya closed her eyes in quiet relief. "My crew and I landed here this morning and we met him at the beach and I think he was trying to scare us off but he ended up taking us to an awesome restaurant where I ate a whole bunch of steak, though I wish I'd eaten more, I'm kinda hungry again, but Nami asked him where we could find a big ship on this island, and he said the only place to find something like that was in this mansion, but he told us how sick you were and so Nami said we shouldn't bother you then, but if I make you all better can I have the ship?"

Kaya blinked at her, feeling rather concussed at this onslaught of words. The inquisitive tilt of the girl's head compelled her to answer, "Ah… sure?", though she wasn't certain of exactly what she was agreeing to. There might have been something about a ship…?

"Great!" 'Luffy' cheered, throwing her arms around Kaya. "Thanks! I don't know how I'll make you better yet, but I'll definitely find a way!"

Ah, so that's what it was. But even a ship would be small reward for ridding Kaya of this wretched illness lingering under her skin, of the sorrow weighing down her limbs. She doubted that this strange girl would be capable of such a feat, though she couldn't help but to hope otherwise.

"Ojou-sama, I have… returned…" There was a surprised pause. And then, "Who are you?"

"Ah, Klahadore, this is Luffy-san. She's…"

"I smell a black cat," the girl said suddenly. Her eyes were focused on Klahadore, a hint of steel sharpening what had been a warm gaze.

Her butler's eyes narrowed. "How rude."

"Not at all. I like cats." She tilted her head, a sarcastic little smile playing along pink lips. "I like their sleek fur, the way they walk, how fast they can run, and especially... how ruthless they are." Luffy turned to her then. "Hey Kaya, do you know what the difference between a dog and a cat is?" The girl continued without giving her any time to answer. "If you give a stray dog food and kindness, they'll be happy to even die for you. But no matter how much you pamper a wild cat, the moment it becomes convenient… he won't hesitate to lead you to your death."

What a morbid way to think! Kaya personally thought cats and dogs were equally cute, but she supposed everybody was entitled to their own opinion.

"You… I don't know who you think you are, but I demand that you leave this mansion. _Immediately_."

The sickly girl turned to her butler in shock at the sudden anger in his voice.

Luffy just smiled and stood up. "Gladly."

Kaya squeaked as she felt herself being bodily lifted - "Ojou-sama!" - and then she was airborne as Luffy launched out of the window.

* * *

**AN**

From what I can tell, beli has the same value as the Japanese yen. So:

**100 beli is approximately $1 (CAD)**

**2000 beli is approx $20**

(I think in terms of the Canadian dollar; the US dollar is nearly the same, so you can think in those terms too. Dunno about other countries though, sorry!)

Badass Nami is badass. Hohoho…

**Reviews**

Querky66: Well, it just... hasn't come up. There will be more flirting with the hapless Luffy later xD

Curious D: I don't want to give anything away, so this isn't the order that they appeared: Ace, Benn Beckman, Dadan, Dragon, Garp, Makino, Mayor, Sabo, Shanks.

Guest ("will enemy pirates fall for Luffy charms since shes a female"): Yes. Well, not all, just specific ones. And not 'fall for', more like 'want to control', 'lust after', 'be intrigued by', etc. (Except a certain key exception or two.) Being pirates (of the murdering variety, being Luffy's enemies and all), purehearted emotions like love will be very unlikely.

Guest (who suggested pregnancy): Nobody is getting pregnant in this story, ahaha. Not that it's a bad idea, because it'd be interesting to explore that avenue in another plot, but not here. Sorry. :)

lany-chan: THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING EVERY CHAPTER. YOU'RE AWESOME! (Yes, I notice these things. ;)


	7. Like Cats And Dogs

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Seven: Like Cats and Dogs**

* * *

"L-luffy-san! What are you doing? Please take me back!"

Luffy paused from where she stood in front of the stone fence and said, "Do you really want to return to that place? You'll be alone all over again."

"I wouldn't be alone, Klahadore is there! He must be worried about me..."

"That butler coddles you so much that it's oppressing; it's obvious he makes you feel even more lonely. When was the last time you went outside these walls? When was the last time you went on an adventure?" There was shouting from the far side of the garden and Luffy gave Kaya a serious look. "If you really want to go back, I'll take you, but after this, there won't be another chance."

The girl hesitated. "Luffy-san…" She clutched her hands together and glanced down to her lap and said, "I want... I want to go outside! But that would be selfish of me... leaving everyone to worry like this... What - what should I do?"

"Kaya, I can't tell you that. Only you can make your decisions."

The shouts grew closer. Soon, the guards would upon them, and the choice would be taken out of Kaya's hands, because though Luffy could beat them all up, she doubted the girl would want to see such a thing.

"Luffy-san, I... I..."

"Kaya-sama!"

Knuckles white from her grip, Kaya said, "Please take me outside!"

Luffy grinned widely at her. "Alright! Hold on tight!"

Kaya squeezed her eyes shut and clutched tightly onto the pirate as she stretched her arm to grab the top of the fence. Wrapping the other arm around her fragile cargo, she shot off over the wall like a rocket, wind tearing at their clothes and hair.

"It's almost like we're flying..." Kaya murmured softly, glancing around at the view below with awe.

"Shishishi! It's nice, right?"

The girl smiled and nodded, closing her eyes to enjoy the rush of wind. There was the briefest jolt as Luffy's feet touched ground, but then she was off again without time for breath.

* * *

Kaya wasn't wearing any shoes, but that was even better, because she could feel the tickle of plush grass between her toes. A butterfly's wing brushed against her cheek, the velvety texture of a cow's nose nudged under her hand. It smelled of dew and sweet flowers, the breeze gentle in its caress as she twirled slowly, her dress fanning out around her.

Kaya laughed, breathless from the easy contentment that was leaking into her pores.

"Good?"

She turned to Luffy - just Luffy, the girl had insisted - to smile so widely that her eyes crinkled too. "Good!"

And the girl grinned back.

For the first time in a long while, Kaya forgot about the weakness in her limbs and the worries constantly plaguing her thoughts and just laughed.

* * *

They were a strange sight, the two of them, one barefooted and the other shuffling along with too-small sandals. Neither of them were overly bothered by this, too busy laughing carelessly with each other.

"And then gramps was all," the barefooted girl's face twisted into a caricature of anger, and her voice went as deep as she could make it. "'AAAACCCCCEEEEE! COME BACK HERE YOU DAMNED BRAT! I'LL KILL YOU!' and then he chased him all over the forest with syrup on his face! And when he came back, his face was all red and swollen from being bitten by sugarflies!" Using her rubber abilities, the girl puffed parts of her face out to mime the image.

The sight set the other girl into peals of laughter. "Ha! Ahahaha! Hahahaha!"

Luffy paused when she spotted a weirdo walking backwards towards them, holding his hat.

"Ara? Who's that freaky person?" she asked, letting her face snap back to normal. She caught a glimpse of an elongated chin.

_Oh. It's him._

And an idea sparked.

"Hey, Kaya," she began.

The other girl turned to her curiously, a smile still playing along her lips. "Yes?"

"If you could wish for anything in this world, what would it be?"

The smile fell as Kaya folded into herself, clearly thinking of her parents. But then she straightened her shoulders and Luffy couldn't help but to feel proud. "I would… I would wish that I wouldn't be such a burden to everyone anymore."

Luffy grinned mischieviously at her. "That's great to know." She turned to the approaching Jango and cupped her hands around her mouth to yell, "OI! Strange mister! Who are you?"

"Ah?" Jango stopped and looked left and right. "Are you talking to me, little girl?"

"Of course! You're suuuuper weird looking!"

"I'll have you know that I'm not weird looking at all," he said, moonwalking closer until he faced them. "I'm just a passing hypnotist!"

"Wow!" Luffy said, her eyes sparkling. Kaya giggled at her. "A real one?"

"Of course I'm a real one!"

"A real real one?"

He was beginning to look a little annoyed. "Shut up! I'm a real real real one!"

"Then prove it! I want you to hypnotise my friend here!"

"Eh?" the blonde yelped, a little alarmed.

Luffy grabbed the guy's sleeve and pulled Jango a little ways away to whisper to him with her back turned to Kaya. They returned not even half a minute later, Luffy with a delighted smile on her face.

"Shishishi, don't worry Kaya, it'll be awesome!"

"Just so you know, I'm not going to do what you told me to," Jango snapped. He then held up his chakram and began to swing it side to side. "Look at this ring. When I say 'One, Two, Jango', you'll be cured of your illness and have the strength to overcome your grief!"

The blonde gave Luffy a shocked look, only to receive a smile in return and a motion that directed her gaze back on the swaying ring.

"One, Two... Jango!"

* * *

Kaya took a deep breath. Expelled it. Another inhale. Another exhale. In, out, in, out, and then she burst with joy because the itch her lungs was gone. The weakness that had sunk in her very bones was _gone_.

Her grief was not gone but it no longer felt so overwhelming and she knew she could move past this trial, and_ oh!_

"Uhyahahya!" the stranger exclaimed, putting his hands to his hips. "I feel healthier than ever!"

"Thank you!" she said, throwing her arms around the suddenly alarmed looking man. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Er." He awkwardly patted her back. "You're welcome?"

But Kaya had already released her grip (and did he look a little disappointed? It was probably her imagination). "Luffy!" She gripped her new friend as tightly as she could. A few minutes earlier, that wouldn't have been much, but _now_… "Thank you so much! Whatever you need, I'll gladly give it to you! Thank you!"

Luffy laughed and hugged her right back, even going so far as to lift her and spin her around. "That's great! Now that you're better, don't you want to go show anyone?"

"Yes! Yes! I want to see Usopp-san!"

"Nishishi, alright! Off to find Usopp!"

* * *

"AHH! CAPTAIN!" Little Tamanegi shrieked, stumbling full pelt to the motley group. "It's impossible! The world is going to end!"

"What is it?" Usopp asked, reaching out a hand to steady the child before she landed on her face. If any of the three children went home with a single scratch, he knew exactly who would be blamed for that. (Parents and their daughters, he shivered. So scary.)

"It's the ojou-sama from the mansion! The ojou-sama is coming here! And she's _running_!"

"Kaya is? Liar!"

"It's the truth!"

And it was. Kaya was running down the road towards them, the pirate girl from earlier jogging behind her wearing a wide grin. "Usopp-saaan!"

"K-k-k-kaya?! What are you doing here? No, more than that, you shouldn't be doing something so strenuous!"

And she laughed at that, stopping in front of him to throw her arms around his shoulders. He stood stiff as stone in shock, because Kaya was a proper ojou-sama and she had never done anything like this before and it was actually really very very very very niiiice

"I'm all better now, can't you see? I'm not sick anymore!" She pulled away, eyes twinkling with elation, and Usopp gathered his bearings again.

"But I saw you just yesterday! How is that possible?"

"It's all thanks to Luffy-san and that hypnotist!"

_('So, if I make her all better then it'll be fine, right?')_

A sinking feeling began to ball in his gut, because if this was true... if this was true...

Usopp tried not to feel resentful. Really, he did. It wasn't his fault if he failed miserably.

"Kaya," he whispered urgently. "You know that girl only did that because she wants your ship, right?"

"Of course I do, Usopp-san! That was part of the deal we made!"

And it looked like she didn't care that the other girl had ulterior motives, with how happy she was. He should feel happy for her too, he knew. This was great, Kaya was completely healthy and that was great, except for just one thing -

"This means you don't have to sneak past the guards to tell me stories anymore!"

Except for that.

"Ahaha! That's great, Kaya!" he said, smearing a grin on his face. "Excuse me though, I have a coronation to attend right now. The king himself invited me you know!"

Usopp turned on his heel and began to march down the road. The moment he turned a corner and was out of sight, he set into a run, the cardboard smile ripping in half and leaving less than nothing behind.

* * *

Luffy's own smile had fallen away a while back.

"Did - did I do something wrong?" Kaya asked, looking lost. Her hand was still outstretched to where Usopp had been. She began to take small, hesitant steps after him, but Luffy put out a hand and stopped her.

"No, this is my fault. I'll go talk to him."

"Oi, Luffy," called Nami's voice. She turned to see her navigator sitting on the white fence next to the three members of the Usopp Pirates. "Don't waste too much time, okay?"

She smiled. "Don't worry; we'll definitely set sail by tomorrow morning."

* * *

"Yo!" the pirate girl swung upside from the tree by her feet, her face directly eye level with Usopp.

"UWAA!" He scrambled backwards in shock before realising that it was her. "Why can't you be more normal?!"

"Why are you sad?" she asked, cutting straight into the heart of the matter. Luffy dropped onto her hands and flipped herself into a sitting position to face him directly.

"What - I'm not sad!"

"Yes you are," she fired back. "You're sad and you're angry. Why? Aren't you happy that Kaya's all better? Now you can go on adventures together."

"As if she would," he snarled, before he could stop himself.

Luffy's brows crinkled in confusion. "What d'you mean?"

Usopp considered telling her another lie, but the cat was already out of the bag, so to speak. And this knot in his chest just wouldn't go away, wouldn't unwind no matter how many lies he tried to tell himself, because he knew the truth.

Because if this was true, that would mean Kaya wouldn't need him anymore - he would have no excuse to go see Kaya anymore - _he wouldn't be able to see Kaya anymore_. If she was all better, she could go out and make her own friends, people who weren't poor, cowardly, lying orphans like him.

Usopp didn't realize he had said all that aloud until the girl blinked and said, quite bluntly, "You're stupid."

"What?!"

He had just spilled his heart and she had the gall to insult him!

"The first person Kaya wanted to see when she thought she got better was you."

_Huh?_

"Me…?"

"Yup. She was so excited she ran all the way until she found you."

"Re-really?"

"Really. That's how much she treasures your friendship."

"B-but… there's no way that'll last for long. Kaya's Kaya and I'm just... me."

Because, as that bastard Klahadore was so fond of saying, he was just a poor little liar who wouldn't amount to anything. And sure, Usopp knew he would become a brave warrior of the sea one day - like his father was - but that day was not today, and Kaya would only wait so long.

"So? What's wrong with being Usopp, son of Yasopp and Banchina?"

"Eh?! You knew my parents?"

She smiled at him. "I've known your dad since I was a kid; the Akagami Pirates made my town their base for a while, and I met him then."

"The Akagami Pirates, huh…" he said wistfully. And then, "The Akagami Pirates?!"

"Well, yeah. He was a super popular guy in the crew, you know. And I've never met anyone whose aim is as great as his. But more than that, I remember he was always talking about you and your mom."

"He... was?"

"Uhn! I actually recognized you straight away just because of that. So, what I don't understand is..." She grabbed his shoulders, leant forward, and stared him straight in the eye. "What's wrong with being just Usopp, Yasopp's treasure and Kaya's precious friend?"

"I..."

That... was right, wasn't it? So what if he was a liar? Kaya liked his lies, and the villagers did too, he was sure. He was a coward, but that was fine, because he would definitely prove himself when the time came. He was an orphan, but so were a lot of other people, including Kaya herself. And the girl wasn't so superficial that she would mind that he didn't have as much money as she did. So who cared what that Klahadore thought? Even if Kaya made new friends, that didn't mean she would no longer be his.

Why had he been worried, again?

'_This means you don't have to sneak past the guards to tell me stories anymore!'_

Ah.

That was why.

"So why did she say that then…?" he asked, staring down at his open palms.

"Why don't you just go ask?"

"Just ask?"

He was scared though. He was so scared that she wouldn't need him anymore, wouldn't ever need him again, and then where would he be? He was so, so selfish, but he couldn't help it, because Kaya… Kaya...

"If you keep being afraid, you're gonna end up making your own fears come true. Are you a brave man of the sea? Or aren't you?"

But then, faltering here… Wouldn't that just be an indication of everything to come? Would he run away like a coward every time he was faced with something that scared him? Usopp didn't want that. He didn't want that at all.

"I - I am. I am!"

Or, well, he wasn't, but he would be. A brave man of the sea, that was his dream, and he would reach it if he just had to kept marching forward. Starting from now.

Usopp leapt to his feet. "I'm going to go talk to Kaya! Don't try to stop me!"

She laughed. He did too, because of course he knew she wouldn't, but it made him feel stronger if he pretended the conflict was coming from some place other than within himself.

* * *

"You fool," Kuro of a Hundred Plans seethed. "You fool! Do you know what you've done?!"

"It can't really be that big of a deal. Sick or healthy, all we have to do is kill her."

"No! You imbecile! It needs to look like an accident!" Kuro paced back and forth, agitatedly readjusting his glasses with both palms. "A sick girl is easy to kill; a tumble down the stairs, a fever that struck at the wrong time, a bit of hypothermia, too much medicine, anything could happen. She's hidden away in the mansion all day, no one would even think it strange if she killed _herself_. But a perfectly healthy girl? One who went out to carouse with friends just a few hours earlier? Once the villagers see that she's well and happy, any accidental death will immediately become suspicious! And I, as her butler, will be the prime suspect!"

"Well how could I have known that that sick girl was the same sick ojou-sama whose fortune you're going to steal?"

"Why did you show off your ability in the first place!? I told you to be discreet!"

"That cute girl with the straw hat paid me to. Besides, I didn't actually hypnotize her, I just pretended that I did. I still don't understand why it worked."

"What?"

"Yeah, she told me all I had to do was pretend to hypnotize the other girl, and she would pay me two thousand beli."

"That girl... how did she know that Kaya-ojousama's illness was only psychosomatic?" There was a pause, and Kuro narrowed his eyes. "No matter. Jango, there has been a change in plans. Go, gather up the men and find the girl. You may raid the town, if you so desire. Have her write that will saying she'll give everything to me and then kill her; as long as I'm not implicated, it doesn't matter how you do it. And that strawhat girl... 'Luffy', was it?" He smirked. The angle of the sun hadn't changed, but somehow there seemed to be a heavy shadow cast over his features. "Bring her to me. I'll show her exactly how I punish cheeky women who ruin one of my plans."

There was a whisper of leaves, and then the crunching of branches approaching them.

"Ho... I think I've just overheard something very interesting."

Kuro's head snapped to the side. "Who's there?"

The shadows of the forest shifted. A single figure casually sauntered out into the clearing where both the ex-captain and acting captain of the Black Cat Pirates stood. Close cropped hair, a green haramaki, a sake bottle dangling from callused fingers, three swords at his right side...

"Who are you?"

The other man smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Well, it didn't matter. He had overheard Kuro's plans; he had to die.

"Jango, your orders still stand. Go. I will dispose of this man."

After a single unsure glance, the hypnotist left, and Kuro reached for the black duffel bag at his feet.

"Not going to be a good citizen and stop him?"

"Nah," said the other man, knocking back the rest of the sake and then tossing the bottle to the ground. "The way I see it, you're the bigger threat."

"Oh?" Kuro pulled on a Cat's Claw. "Nicely spotted."

"Besides," a black bandana was tied over dark eyes. A large, squared thumb flicked out the golden tsuba of one of his swords. "I believe you said you would 'punish' Luffy?"

Kuro raised a brow and pulled on the other Cat's Claw. "What of it?"

"I'm afraid my captain," a black boot slid back in the dirt. There was a clink as a sword handle was clenched between teeth. "Is entirely out of your league."

The man bared his teeth in a feral grin, his eyes savage and wild and dark, and suddenly Captain Kuro made the connection. "Roronoa Zoro... the Majū. You're just as bestial as they say."

"Heh. What gave it away?"

_Everything_, he didn't tell him. Suddenly the girl's talk of stray dogs made a lot more sense.

"Captain, was it... It'll have taken more than just a bit of food to tame a man like you. So tell me, Roronoa Zoro," Kuro kicked off the ground, claws leaving gouges in the earth. A cheshire smile curved his lips. "How is she?"

"Well now," steel flashed a lethal reflection against Kuro's glasses. "That's something you'll never find out, isn't it?"

* * *

"Ah! Luffy! I have the I'll-die-if-I-confront-Kaya diseeea- !"

Luffy threw Usopp into the air by his nose. He landed nose first into the dirt in front of Kaya's feet.

"Usopp-san! Are you okay?"

"K-K-Kaya!"

She grabbed him by his shoulders and tugged him up, and then threw her arms around him again. "I'm so sorry! Nami-san told me that what I said made it seem like I didn't want to see you again! That isn't what I meant at all!"

"E-eh?"

"I just meant that we can meet out in the village, instead! Klahadore can't get mad at you for sneaking in if I'm the one sneaking out, right?"

"W-what? Really? Is _that_ what it... You don't want to stop being friends or anything?"

"No, of course not!" She pulled back and smiled at him. "Of course I want to keep being friends with Usopp-san! Were you worried I wouldn't?"

"Worried?" He hesitated for moment, before grinning widely. Usopp put his hands to his waist and puffed out his chest. "Me? No way! I wouldn't be worried about something like that! I wouldn't doubt it even if I were attacked by a giant sea monster!"

_What does a giant sea monster have to do with anything?_ Luffy wondered.

A little ways away, three short figures slowly became visible. Tamanegi, Ninjin, and Piiman. They looked strangely girlish in real life…

But Luffy blinked when she saw that there were bruises on their arms and legs, and scratches all over. "CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN! THE VILLAGE IS BEING ATTACKED BY PIRATES!"

"What?!"

Luffy's eyes widened and her hands curled into fists. _That shouldn't be happening for another several hours at the least!_

"Usopp, stay with Kaya," she ordered. The boy snapped to attention at the authority in her voice, despite having no reason to listen to her. "Hide her. Go to the forest, go find a cave, whatever. There will be dangerous pirates after her head. To protect your friend, you have to be brave, okay? Nami, you're with me."

She took off at a run to the town, her eyes narrowed in concentration. The navigator kept pace behind her.

"How many men do you think you can handle at once?"

"If we're talking about normal strength pirates, four or five should be fine."

"Okay. Then..." The village came into view, and sure enough, the villagers were spilling into the streets, screaming and shouting as rough hewn men ransacked their homes and stores. "Let's smash these bastards into dirt, yeah?"

There was an amused huff of air. "Yeah."

* * *

_Did I do this?_ she wondered, as she dashed through the streets bowling over pirates by the dozens. _Is this my fault?_

But the senseless terror on these villagers' faces convinced her of it: there was no doubt that she had caused this, this violent assault against a town that otherwise would have been left untouched.

She shot a Pistol at a group trying to ram down the storefront of a jewelery shop and pressed on, looking for the largest threats of this riot; namely, Kuro, Jango, and the Nyaban Brothers. Or maybe the weirdo cat brothers were still on the enemy ship? They had been called the 'last resort' for a reason, after all.

_Crash._

Or… nevermind.

Luffy rocketed herself elbow first into Buchi's obese gut, vulcanized rubber sinking into the other pirate's kidney. A Whip knocked the wind out of Sham before he could retaliate, and she pummeled the both of them into the ground with a Gatling.

It was best to do this quickly, before too much harm was done, she thought, checking that the two were suitably knocked out in their shallow craters before rushing to several goons trying to trash some poor lady's home. She had to fix what could be fixed and hope to god nothing had broken too badly.

Spurred by the rush of a self-imposed time limit, Luffy began to hound down every single Kuroneko Pirate that dared to set foot in Syrup Village with frightening vigor.

* * *

Usopp panted as he dove behind another tree. The trunk he had been hiding behind not a few seconds ago lurched over, sliced in half at its trunk.

"You fucking piece of shit... where are you hiding?!"

_That's right_, he thought. _Just keep following me._

He didn't know why this bastard was trying to get his filthy paws on Kaya, but there was no way Usopp would allow that. As long as the guy continued to chase after him, he would be getting farther and farther away from Kaya, who was running back to her mansion. Surely she would be safer there, with all her guards and servants. He just had to buy her enough time, and then he could make his own escape.

Usopp eeped as something came crashing through the trees behind him.

_What is -_

An unholy racket thundered through the forest as over a dozen trees suddenly toppled over, all at once. A flash of black sped out of the cloud of wood chips, something green following closely behind. Sparks flew as the two entities clashed, blades screaming as they scraped past. There was the briefest lull in activity as black and green bore down against each other, the wind and the mountain, neither willing to give an inch. Usopp caught sight of feline eyes narrowed on a wolfish grin before black was thrown against a tree.

Wait, wasn't that... Klahadore? It was! What was Kaya's snooty butler doing here, battered and half-beaten and wiping blood from his mouth?

He had always likened that man to a domesticated house cat, but now, with long claws extending from his fingers, a dangerous glint reflecting off his round glasses, and neatly gelled hair spilling wildly into his face, he brought to mind something more of the likes of a black panther. The other monster, however...

Usopp shivered and cowered further behind his tree.

If things like hell hounds existed in this world this man, all sharp edges and dark shadows and vicious eyes, would be the archetype in barely human form. Death roiled in the air around him, in the shade he casted against the underbrush. The almost jovial pirate who had chuckled at Luffy's antics was long, long gone.

The weirdo who had been chasing him looked just as shell-shocked as he felt. "Cap-captain Kuro!"

Who was? Which one of these monsters was being called on?

Klahadore spat out a glob of blood and pushed off of the decimated tree trunk under him, staggering to his feet with visible difficulty. "Jango. I told you to go find Kaya. What are you doing." It wasn't a question. It was a threat.

"I was! But then that pest got in the way!" A chakram cut through the air and into Usopp's hiding place. He dove away before it could cut through him as well, landing on his ass in clear view.

Three pairs of eyes landed heavily on his shoulders.

Usopp laughed nervously and began to scuttle backwards. "Ah...haha... Don't mind me... I'll just be going now...!"

Klahadore let out a "Hmph," of dismissal and, despite himself, Usopp couldn't help but to feel insulted. "Just ignore that waste of space. If I don't have Kaya's will by the end of today, it's _your_ head that's going to roll."

Usopp's eyes went wide. Kaya's... will?

"But Captain Kuro, this man..."

"I told you not to call me that!" the butler snapped. "I rid myself of my sixteen million bounty and you useless Black Cat buffoons three years ago. Once I pay you for this job with Kaya's inheritance, I don't want to see any of your faces again."

Captain Kuro? Black Cats? Kaya's inheritance? Job?

Though he often liked to pretend otherwise, Usopp was a smart boy. A very, very smart boy.

_Sometimes_, he thought, as his mind made the connections and filled his gut with dread, _maybe a little too smart_.

"I don't know where the girl is, though!"

Klahadore - no.

Kuro, Kuro of a Hundred Plans, _Captain Kuro of the Kuroneko Pirates_ gave him a thoughtful glare and said, "Check the mansion."

He was bluffing. He was bluffing, right? He had to be. How could he know where Kaya had gone to hide?

But the freak hypnotist turned and began to leave in that direction and Kuro made no move to stop him.

Damn it. _Damn it damn it damn it damn it!_

_Stand up_, he told himself. _Stand up! Stop shaking! Grab ginga pachinko and go protect Kaya!_

_But_, his body protested, _I'm too scared. _You're_ too scared. What can you do, against a real pirate? You're only a weakling. You won't even be able to help, what would you possibly be able to do?_

That was... that was... that was...

_That's... true..._

What could he do? He was a coward through and through, and he knew it. He wouldn't be able to do anything at all, wouldn't be able to protect Kaya however hard he tried -

(_"Stupid... Are you a brave man of the sea? Or aren't you?"_)

No... that wasn't true. It wasn't true._ It wasn't true._

Even if it was just a little bit of extra time. Even if he didn't manage to stop the weirdo pirate. Even if he was just a useless waste of space. He would have to try, at least.

"Oi," said the green-haired swordsman. The man glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Usopp gave the slightest flinch before he steadied himself. "If you're going to protect something, do it properly."

Right.

That kind of thinking would get him nowhere.

_I won't just try_, he swore to himself._ I'll stop that bastard even until death!_

Usopp jumped to his feet and rushed after the mushroom chinned freak.

* * *

**AN**

Someone who's so negative that negative hollows become negative must have a lot of internal conflict and really low self-confidence.

Is what I thought when I wrote from Usopp's pov. Did I overdo it?

(And Zoro's killing intent has gotta be pretty overwhelming stuff to a boy this sheltered.)

Also, I'm not that great at action scenes so there won't be all that much detail into the battles except brief glances to show what happening plotwise (who's winning, random epiphanies, meaningful arguments, deep thoughts, etc.) This will likely change as I improve, but for now...

There was a typo in the summary! Was there always a typo in the summary? Why did no one tell meeee D:

**Reviews**

Amortentia Alice: OMG A CRITIQUE OMG I'M SO HAPPY OMG. Hancock, huh? Hancock, Hancock, Hancock. Hancock and Amazon Lily are quite points of interest. I do have a few plans for 'The Most Beautiful in the World', so please bear with me. As for my writing style, I've gotten a few mild complaints about that before too. When it comes to scenes where stuff happens (to be more specific, scenes where people aren't just sitting around and thinking - my specialty (ahaha)), I end up only writing the dialogue or the actions and minimizing descriptions just because it's easier (unless the character whose POV is being used is analyzing something or someone), but I guess it's hard to imagine the scenes... I'll do better from now on. Y^Y

Though it also depends on whose POV it is - Luffy isn't going to be as illustrative as Sanji will, for example. She's gonna stick to the bare bones of what she thinks is important or interesting, while Sanji would embellish things as according to his beliefs.


	8. When Words Are Enough

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Eight: When Words Are Enough**

* * *

"I think this is the last of them," Luffy said, throwing a beaten body atop the pile of Black Cat Pirates. Black hair fell into her eyes in casual disarray as she readjusted Boshi.

"Finally!" Nami huffed, leaning against her rod. She caught her breath and groused, "This would have so much faster if the damned swordsman bothered to show up."

The two of them stood at the edge of the village nearest the road that wound to Kaya's mansion. At first glance, they were alone for as far as a passive observer would care to see, but Luffy could spot several pairs of eyes peeking at them around walls and through windows.

"Oh yeah." She looked around curiously. "Where is Zoro, anyway?"

"Probably got lost, that directionless muscle-head."

_Hmm_. That was a rather strong possibility.

She found it impressive, really, that her first mate could get so utterly lost everywhere and anywhere, but Nami didn't seem to think the same. Regardless, someone would have to go retrieve him, and since her navigator still looked a little winded…

"I'll go look for Zoro, then! Nami, wait here, okay?"

"Fine. Look in the forest, that's where I last saw him."

"Alright!" Luffy bounced off into the collection of trees nearest to her with a grin.

_Wait until Zoro sees what he missed!_

(And by no means had she forgotten about Kuro. But at this point she could only clench her fists and hope that nothing had befallen Kaya, that Usopp had been enough on his own, that Kuro hadn't found them yet...)

* * *

_This guy is annoyingly fast._

Zoro's eyes followed the flash of black with his eyes, trying to discern some sort of pattern. It dove in, and he caught the kitten nails with his swords. Black eyes daggered at each other and then Kuro pushed off again, knowing better than to try to overpower the so-called demonic beast in physical strength by now.

The three sluggishly bleeding lacerations on Zoro's back bore witness to his own carelessness, having underestimated the other man at first. The marines did not give away sixteen million beli easily; the shallow gashes littering his body attested to this.

Kuro, however, had gotten the far worse end of the stick, haggard and heavily wounded, his black suit mauled beyond repair and his skin ridden with gouges. Treacherous blood tagged the underbrush in a mosaic of red. Too many times the ex-pirate had escaped death by only a few inches, thanks to that bothersome speed of his, but just one last strike and the man would be out like a light.

The problem was, such had remained true for the last several minutes and Zoro still didn't have a head to take back to his captain.

Luffy was the only one - male or female, human or beast, alive or deceased - he had ever tamed himself for, and his role as her first mate meant that he could not allow insults against her pride to go unpunished. He found himself rather in accord with the title Luffy had offhandedly bestowed on him because if this bastard was any indication, that was one duty he would never rid himself of. Now, however, it would not be for the bounty.

'Pirate Hunter' indeed.

So if Kuro would just stand still for a moment and let him do his job, instead of turning tail and running off into that densely packed thicket...

_Shit_.

"Coward," Zoro spat under his breath as he gave chase.

* * *

Usopp panted and slumped against one of the few intact trees remaining in the rounded copse. Across the way was Kaya, who sat curled defensively towards a low trunk, and in between them sprawled the unconscious body of 'Jango', or so the weirdo had called himself. Wisps of smoke spiralled from the man's face where his final Kayaku Boshi had impacted, finally knocking the persistent bastard out. Just in time, too; a few moments later, and Kaya would have been writing out her own will, and nothing would protect her from death once that paper was signed.

Usopp had... beaten him.

He had really - he had really beaten an actual pirate! Him! Sure, he'd been more terrified than he was willing to admit, and sure, he had never been in so much pain in his life, but for this glow of pride, of triumph, it was more than worth it.

That wasn't to say that their problems were over yet.

He limped over to Kaya and reached out his hand. "Come on, we have to go before Klahadore finds you."

She shook her head, blonde strands forming a halo around her shoulders, and stubbornly refused to take it. "There must be some kind of mistake - Klahadore isn't a pirate! He can't be. You must have seen wrong - or - or he was framed."

"Kaya..." Usopp said, almost regretting having to do this to her. Should he lie? Tell her that he'd seen wrong, that her faithful butler wasn't actually Kuro, the cutthroat pirate?

But it was too dangerous. The threat of Kuro still loomed darkly over both their heads, and if he foolishly allowed her to trust him... well, that would get her killed. If he knew that she would be forever be safe from the wretched pirate he would do something like that without a beat, but the man still lingered somewhere in this very same forest and could stumble across them at any moment. Usopp sometimes preferred his fibs to reality, but he refused to endanger Kaya in such a way.

"Kaya, listen to me." He bent down and looked her straight in the eye, to make sure she knew that he wasn't lying, would never lie about something like that. "Kaya, my eyesight is 2.5. There was no way that I saw wrong. And there was no way I heard wrong, or misunderstood anything. Klahadore isn't the man you know. You can't trust him. Please, I don't want you to get hurt!"

Tears formed a film over brown irises. "U-usopp-san, I don't - I can't - "

His heart broke for her. The revelation that the man she trusted and relied on most in the world had only been using her for her fortune... It wouldn't come easily to anyone.

"For now, just... let's get out of here first, okay?"

She nodded, and finally took ahold of his outstretched hand. He took a moment to marvel at the sight of her pale fingers against his tanned skin, at how soft her hand was, but reminded himself that this was no time for that.

A rustling in the bushes caught both their attentions, and Usopp slowly backed Kaya against another tree so he could stand in front of her. Their hands were still intertwined.

"Sheesh!" someone cried. "I hate thorns!"

Huh? That was... that was Luffy's voice!

"L-Luffy?" Kaya tremulously called from behind him.

"Eh? It's Kaya!"

Something red and blue and yellow shot out of the bushes and rolled to a stop at his feet. Luffy grinned up at him from where she lay splayed on the ground, her straw hat - miraculously still on her head - pushing against his toe. Her clothes were a mess, torn at places with leaves clinging to her skin and twigs snagged into the folds. She didn't seem to be hurt anywhere, which was a relief.

He was worried that her commotion had brought unwanted attention to them but the way she was so gleefully chaotic still brought a smile to his mouth. Kaya giggled from behind him and stepped forward, letting go of his hand to help Luffy sit up and brush debris from her clothes and hat.

"What are you doing here, Luffy?"

"Ah, I'm looking for Zoro! Have you seen him?" The girl glanced around wildly, as if she thought that mentioning the man's name would summon him, before pausing when she noticed Jango's slumped form on the ground several feet away. "Hey, isn't that the weirdo hypnotist…?"

Kaya looked down at her knees and nodded.

There was only silence as Luffy properly took in the glade she sat in, the multitude of trees felled by the unconscious pirate, the bedraggled state of both Usopp and Kaya, the injuries littering his body, the scared look darkening her face. The pirate's features became grimmer and grimmer with every revelation that flashed through her eyes.

And then... she smiled.

"I'm glad you guys aren't hurt too bad. Usopp must have been really brave, huh?" Somehow, the beam she gave him filled him with more warmth than even the actual victory had.

He couldn't help but to grin back. "Of course! You can always count on the Great Captain Usopp for all your worries!"

"Is that so," a cold voice cut in. Usopp froze. His heart thundered in his ears, loud and fast and insistent. "Then I suppose you could tell me why that Jango is taking a nap instead of doing what I told him to."

"K-K-K-K-Kuro!" Usopp whipped around and directed his ginga pachinko at the pirate. "Stay back! I won't let you hurt Kaya!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his friend begin to slowly digest the sight, shock settling into her as she realized that her dear guardian had turned into… this. Even though blood ran down his temples in streams, even though his finely kept clothes were now more rags than anything else, the man retained the presence of predator, sleek, lithe and incredibly dangerous - a murderer through and through. His countenance was decidedly pinched however, stretched taut and thin from exhaustion. Whoever that Zoro guy was, he had really done a number on this infamous pirate. Where was he, anyway?

"Kaya, did you say? That saves me the trouble of tracking that idiot girl down." Kuro angled his gaze past Usopp to see Kaya partially hidden behind him. Concealed by the both of them was Luffy, who had gone silent, though he couldn't see her expression to determine what she thought of this new development. The other pirate's dark eyes narrowed as his mind visibly began to develop a new plan of action. He readjusted his glasses, bringing attention to the remaining blades on his gloves. "Threatening the life of your dearest Usopp-san should have the same result as hypnosis, don't you think?"

"No - !" Kaya yelped, scrambling to her feet. A deathly smirk curving his mouth, Kuro leapt forward in a blur that even Usopp, with his prodigious eyesight, couldn't follow. It sped towards him was nearly upon him he could see his demise rushing at him like a trainwreck he could do _nothing to stop it_

The habitual liar suddenly bowed forward when something landed heavily on his back; his hands fell to the ground to prevent him from face planting into the dirt as he was used as a springboard. Shocked, he craned his neck up.

Kuro had been stopped by a fist to his face.

Usopp's mouth dropped open. "Wha…"

"I hate people like you," Luffy snarled, her hand still embedded in Kuro's temple. She reared her other arm back and slammed it into the other pirate's jaw, sending him crashing to the other side of the clearing. "Planning to kill off all your nakama just so you can live easily, playing with people's emotions for years like they're nothing, running away from the life of a pirate just because you think it's tiring..." she listed, stalking towards the still body, slumped against a tree.

For a moment, Kuro didn't so much as twitch, and Usopp almost thought he was dead. But he opened his mouth and spoke. "Oh? You seem to know quite a bit about me. That's right," he huffed in amusement. "All of what you say is true. But what about it? Is there anything wrong with wanting a peaceful life? Those reckless cretins aren't worth my time anyway. Not a single person will care if they live or die… because a crew's only purpose is to be used as the captain sees fit."

_Can... can a person really be this horrible?!_ Usopp thought with a gasp. Exactly how little did he think human life was worth? And to think that this bastard had been loitering around Kaya for years!

"What a pathetic little man you are." A voice broke Usopp from his scrutiny. "You don't know anything about being a real pirate."

Despite the clear exhaustion undermining his every twitch, Kuro still managed to lurch forward angrily, eyelids snapping open. "What did you say?"

Luffy stopped in front of the man, her arms hanging loosely by her sides. If Kuro was mad, then her eyes were absolutely furious, searing Usopp's skin from even this distance. "First of all. It isn't the captain that makes the crew. It's the crew that makes the captain. And secondly," the girl dug her fingers into Kuro's shoulders and reared her head back. He watched in amazement as her neck _streeeetched _in a way that couldn't possibly be human, reaching up to several feet in length. "Don't set out to sea if you aren't prepared to risk your life! Idiot!"

Her forehead slammed against Kuro's with such force that the tree behind Kuro's head shattered into pieces, and the man went soaring into the air, specks of blood and spittle flying from his mouth, pupils rolled to reveal the whites of his eyes, glasses knocked askew.

Usopp could only gape.

* * *

To be very frank.

The Majū was pissed.

_Of all the times to get turned around_, he thought, irritated. _Stupid fucking trees, all looking the same. Stupid fucking pirate, throwing me off his trail._

Zoro's hand instinctually fell on his sword handle when he felt something rushing at him from behind. Two of his blades were smoothly pulled out as he turned, but a streak of red and yellow caught his eye in time and he managed to resheath them in the very same moment. Instead, the momentum of his arms were used to catch an airborne girl by the waist.

"Nishishi!" Wild flyaway black hair and large vibrant brown eyes and softly rounded cheeks and a pert upturned nose - it was most definitely his little captain. Her arms curled over his shoulders and she hung from his neck like the monkey she was. "I found Zoro!"

"Luffy." There was a pause, and he knew she had seen the wounds on his back, knew that she had noted he had nothing to show for them, that he hadn't even finished the job properly. "... Sorr - "

With a knowing look in her eyes, she interrupted with an, "Otsukare*, Zoro."

"Iie*," he told her, the wind carrying the smell of blood on her knuckles from around his throat.

"Shut up, stupid." A wide grin stretched her mouth. "If I say otsukare, then Zoro has to just accept it."

Then...

"... Iie," he repeated, the tension in his shoulders beginning to melt away.

Her grin widened, and he knew she understood. "Let's go. Nami's waiting!"

"Aa."

She dropped from his shoulders and grabbed his hand and he let her pull him along in the direction of the village, her palm warm against his own.

* * *

"Nami! Nami! Nami!" a familiar voice yelled cheerfully. The aforementioned woman turned to see Luffy waving with frantic energy as she trotted towards her with an impassive Roronoa Zoro in tow. "Look! Look! I found him!"

"Baaaka," Nami mumbled to herself, with a helpless little smile. "I can see that already."

When the two of them got close enough, Luffy released Zoro's hand and pounced on her, making the orange haired woman stumble back from the sudden weight. "I did well, right?"

If the girl had a tail, it would be wagging furiously. A bright, eager face peered up at her, and Nami felt a sweatdrop forming on her temple. _Now that the crisis is over, back to being carefree again, is that it?_ she thought with exasperated fondness. (Fondness? No, it was just exasperation. Wasn't it?)

"Yes, yes, you did a good job."

Luffy's eyes crinkled with her smile. "Nami too!"

She paused in surprise. "What?"

"Nami did a good job too!" Long lashes lifted open to reveal warm chocolate. "Otsukare!"

"Otsukare," Nami replied automatically.

When... when was the last time someone had sincerely said this to her? Not since the day Bell-mère had died, at the least; Arlong said it too, sometimes, but it was a shallow platitude that fell from his serrated teeth, nothing so earnest as this.

She was hit by a wave of nostalgia. Years back, after a hard day of harvesting from the plantation, Bell and Noji and Nami would laugh as they greeted each other in this way, each carrying different sized baskets filled with oranges. The twilight would paint the sky in warm colours, the brisk breeze a welcome balm against their sun-warmed shoulders, the tangy aroma of ripe tangerines tickling her nose, and her heart would feel so, so _full_ because they weren't the richest family, but they were, they were family, and they loved each other.

_Ah_, she thought. _Damn it._

By comparing Luffy and Bell-mère, she'd just made it more difficult for herself to leave if - _when_, she reminded herself - it became necessary. In an attempt to backtrack, she tore her eyes away from Luffy's sunny beam and glanced to Zoro instead.

Only to feel her lips quirking in amusement.

Sharp eyes picked out the tension in the corners of the fearsome pirate's mouth, the way his fingers curled ever so slightly, as if to catch the dissipating heat.

_What are you, seven?_

He was sulking that Luffy had left him for her. He probably wouldn't ever admit it, but he was definitely sulking.

Ha. What a captain, to reduce the both of them to this. It was both impressive and frightening.

Nami shook her head and disentangled herself from Luffy's arms. "The villagers have called for the marines already, so we don't need to worry about those guys anymore," she said, gesturing to the pile of Kuroneko pirates several feet away. The Usopp guy had added two new bodies to the bunch since Luffy had left to find Zoro. She recognized one of the faces; Kuro of a Hundred Plans, reportedly captured by the marines years back. The wimp hadn't seemed nearly strong enough to go up against a sixteen million beli head and win, so it had to be...

Her eyes raked over her two crewmates and categorized their various wounds. Luffy was mostly fine but for a few scratches and a bit of blood on her knuckles - and a few specks on her forehead, what was that about? - but Zoro's shirt had to be scrapped and his shoulders were a little stiff - likely from some sort of injury on his back - not to mention the strange claw marks marking his skin here and there. Nothing too bad, and not nearly life threatening. He'd be fine after a bit of rest.

"But Nami," Luffy said, cocking her head. "We're pirates too."

"We should be fine; none of us have a bounty, so they won't recognize us as pirates as long as we keep our mouths shut - "

Zoro snorted to let her know what he thought of _that _idea. "This one here, keeping her mouth shut?"

Nami stared at Luffy's open face. She thought of the last few days.

"Alright, the marines are going to arrive by late evening," the navigator smoothly continued, as if she wasn't contradicting her earlier words at all. "So we'll have to stock up and get out of here by nightfall."

"But what if these guys wake up after we're gone?"

"What _if _they wake up after we're gone?"

"They'll attack the people!"

She'd let herself get swept up in Luffy's pace earlier, so she hadn't thought much of it... but now, she couldn't help but realize that - "Luffy, that's none of our business."

There was nothing tying them to this quaint little town, no reason to go out of their way to protect it. Helping out the villagers when faced directly with danger was one thing, but purposefully inconveniencing herself for the off chance that they may be endangered again? Why would she do that?

"Yes it is," the girl said, resolute. Eyes of burnt umber bore into her own. "Because Kaya and Usopp are our friends. So it is our business."

_Friends, huh?_

There was no changing Luffy's mind at this point, was there? Not that she really felt up to it. Nami sighed in resignation. "They won't wake for a few hours, at the least. If we throw these guys on their ship and push it out to sea… judging from the wind, and the air pressure, and the movement of the clouds... they won't be able to return here if we take their compasses. Besides, they'll probably be found by marines before they wake up, so it should be fine."

"Nishishi!" Luffy leapt at her in another hug. "Thanks, Nami! You're the best!"

_Well, it isn't like you really gave me a choice_, the navigator thought with a wry smile, but she accepted the embrace anyway.

Honestly though, without supplies - she'd robbed them blind earlier, when Luffy had gone to find Zoro - or any sort of direction, those pirates would probably die of dehydration or starvation out at sea.

It'd probably be best if Luffy wasn't ever told about such details. The kind of person she was, it was possible that she'd have those deaths on her conscience until the day she died. Luckily, the girl was optimistic to the point of fault; she wouldn't think of such scenarios herself.

Normal people were one thing, but Nami couldn't care less about what happened to these men, rotten pirates that they were. Zoro likely thought the same, seeing as how he was keeping silent despite the acknowledgement in his black eyes. And that eavesdropping Usopp wouldn't mention anything that would help the bastards who attacked his village.

Nami appreciated when things could be wrapped up as neatly as this.

* * *

"_Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo_!" Luffy belted, as she trooped down the nearly empty road. A large sack was slung over her shoulder, bulging with supplies. "_Umikaze kimakase namimakase_!"

Not bad, Usopp decided, his knees shaking. Not exactly a voice he'd pay to hear, but she would be fun to sing with.

_Stop delaying_, he chided himself. _Just ask her! She said we were friends, didn't she? Courage! You're a brave man of the sea!_

Now if only if were that easy…

"L-Luffy!"

"_Shio no mukou de_ \- Oh! It's Usopp!"

Usopp let out an 'Eep!' when she changed course and started walking towards him, waving wildly and grinning just the same.

_courage courage courage courage_

"Aha! Ahaha! What nice weather we're having, right?" He wanted to smack himself. So much for brave man of the sea. No, no, he could still ask, there was still time…

"Eh, is it?" She tilted her head back and watched the clouds far above spiral through their blue canvas, the faintest strains of pink beginning to highlight edges of fluffy white. It had been the exact same yesterday. "I guess?"

"I-I'll join your crew if I get to be captain!" Ah, no, that wasn't what he wanted to say either! That damn pride of his had taken over his tongue again!

"No way!" Luffy said, her brows quirked in irritation. "_I'm_ captain! Sheesh, if that's all you were going to say, I'm going."

The girl hefted her bag back over her shoulder and began to shuffle away again, her small sandals _tmp-tmp-tmp_ing against packed earth.

_Hey, hadn't Kaya been wearing those earlier_, Usopp wondered detachedly. _Luffy must have lent them to her._

Slim ankles traveled farther and farther away, and his heart thundered furiously in his ribcage.

_Just say it just say it just say it JUST SAY IT_

And the words burst from his chest before he could hesitate any further. "LUFFY! CAN I JOIN YOUR CREW?"

She paused for a moment, then continued walking, as if she hadn't heard him.

_Of course she wouldn't let me! I'm useless and a coward and a weakling and a wimp and..._

His head drooped further and further until it was hanging limply from his neck, nails digging bloody welts into the flesh of his palms.

Soft footsteps stopped. Then, suddenly, a bold voice demanded, "Why aren't you packing? We leave in an hour, you know."

Usopp's head whipped up so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. "O-of course! I was just deciding what to bring!"

"Shishishi!" She grinned at him over her shoulder and he found himself grinning back. "We'll be waiting at the beach!"

As he watched her walk away, Usopp would swear up and down and side to side that he wasn't tearing up, _at all_.

Obviously.

* * *

"UWOO!" Luffy cheered, as she saw the ship that awaited her. A sheep figurehead smiled back at her, clear varnish gleaming bright and new against the glare of the ocean. "So awesome!"

"I'm glad you like it," Kaya said, tucking a strand of blonde behind her ear. Her white dress swirled around her ankles from the sea breeze. "Merry designed it himself."

"Indeed," said the man. "Her name is the Going Merry. I've already explained how to maneuver her to your navigator, but if you would also like to know, I'd be happy to tell you."

"What are you talking about?" She cocked her head and squinted at him. "You make it sound so complicated. Just wait for a nice wind to come by and hope it takes you to the right place, isn't it?"

He gave her a horrified look. "... O-on the other hand, perhaps it is for the best that I talked to your navigator first... yes..."

"Luffy... you're going now, right? Even though we only met this morning, I... I really will miss you!"

Luffy grinned wide and attacked the taller girl with a hug. "Stupid, don't say that like we'll never see each other again! Once I become Pirate King, we'll definitely come back to visit, and then you can throw us a feast!"

Kaya giggled and rubbed away an errant tear. "Of course!"

The pirate was struck by a thought. "Actually... Kaya, do you have a den den mushi?"

The ojou-sama brightened and hopefully turned to Merry. "Do we?" Please say yes, her eyes begged. Her delicate features fell when he shook his head.

"Well, that's okay too," Luffy said, not at all discouraged. "We don't have one either, but once we do, I'll mail you the number straight away! And then you can get one, and we can talk all the time!"

Kaya laughed and nodded eagerly at her.

"Oi, Luffy!" The girl glanced up and waved at Nami, who stood waiting on the deck of their new home. "If you're here, we should get going already!"

"Not yet," Luffy replied. "We're waiting for one more person."

Kaya turned to look at her sharply. "You don't mean…"

"YOU HAVE DONE WELL WAITING!" someone announced loudly. "But fear not! THE GREAT CAPTAIN USOPP IS HERE NOW!"

Her new sniper stumbled towards them with an enormous backpack hitched to his shoulders, grinning from ear to ear. His expression faltered when he caught sight of Kaya, however.

"Usopp-san..."

"K-K-Kaya?"

Ah, it was a super private conversation. Makino had taught her not to listen to those. Not that she usually cared, but in this particular case...

Luffy rushed to the Going Merry with arms outstretched. _Gomu Gomu no Rocket_, she thought, shooting herself directly onto the figurehead.

She threw her bag of supplies - ropes and stuff like that, plus a little request of her own; she'd just given the shopkeeper Nami's list and he'd gotten everything for her - to the deck and plopped herself between Merry's antlers. Crossing her legs, she grinned impossibly large at the horizon.

A new friend, a new ship, and a new nakama. She was well on her way to the adventure of a lifetime; the crashing of waves challenged her to come try her luck.

So, for good measure...

"I'm gonna be the Pirate King!" she roared to the open sea and skies and wind.

_Just you wait, Shanks!_

* * *

**AN**

*_Otsukare_ (lit. fatigued): The shortened, much more informal version of '_otsukaresama (desu)_' (lit. you are a fatigued person). For those less versed in Japanese culture, that basically means 'you worked hard' or 'thank you for your hard work'. It doesn't quite translate as well into English, so I stuck with the Japanese version.

*_Iie_: Means - no, you're wrong, that's not true, it's nothing, etc. Its many meanings let Zoro say more while saying less. In this case it can be taken as both "You're wrong" (_read as: I haven't done anything worth thanking_) and "It's nothing" (read as: _anytime / don't mention it / etc_). Zoro's first and second uses respectively.

If anyone needs a deeper explanation into that conversation between Luffy and Zoro, go ahead and ask. Don't be shy. :)))

\- Any of you have complaints about the way Kuro was handled? Because I let the thing write itself, and somehow this is what resulted...

(NO COME BACK DON'T LEAVE MEEE)

\- I'm trying to show Zoro and Nami becoming devoted-er, little by little. IS IT WORKING?

\- When it comes to pirates, Nami can be rather cruel, I think. Not so much now, but back when the threat of Arlong was still looming over her head... (And Luffy is not as innocent as she thinks.)

\- And since so many of you asked, I guess I'll have to answer this:

No. No new nakama. Nope, nope, nope. I just... I can't. Recruiting is so darn hard. Too many heartfelt, inspirational speeches; it really saps my energy to write. So yeah, I'm drawing the line at canon Strawhat characters. Sorry if this disappoints you! D:

Now, friends and allies on the other hand... HAHAHAHAHAHA... :3

\- Next chapter is on the shorter side.

**Reviews**

Penny Pepperup: That's a pretty good idea! If you think about it, most accounts of sea journeys from long ago come from captain's journals. It'd make sense for Luffy to write down a log of what's happening to compare with her memories, because she's beginning to cotton onto the fact that her adventures won't quite be as she expected. Thanks! :) Also, I was actually just going to 'leave Kaya on that island', as you said, but people seem to have become fond of her? Somehow? So I added that last part. I dunno if that'll affect anything yet, but we'll see.

I… I _want _to thank everyone who reviewed and favorited and followed, but somehow, when I do, people end up reviewing less for that chapter? So I'm a little scared… o_o

But gratitude should be given where it is warranted.

Thanks! to all of you who are reading! and those of you who reviewed! :)


	9. Whisper In The Wind

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Nine: Whisper In The Wind**

* * *

Usopp had climbed up on deck with a red face and a promise settled on his lips. He kept glancing back to where Kaya stood waving and brushing tanned fingers over his mouth, even when she was only a speck in the distance.

"You're not thinking of changing your mind, are you?" Nami asked absently, only half joking. She glanced at her compass and measured the distance between the sun and the horizon. Three fingers… They had around three quarters of an hour until sundown to get the hell out of this part of East Blue. The marines were always the most persistent when it was the most inconvenient, so they'd probably do a ten mile radius a sweep search around the Gecko Islands.

"No way!" he blustered. "The Great Usopp's word is absolute!"

"Hmm," she replied. "That's good to know. I'll hold you to that."

The weather would be nice and mild for a while yet, at least until the next island, which was a relief since she still had to accustom herself to navigating a ship of this sort. She knew the _theory _behind working a caravel of course, and Merry-san's details had helped, but there was nothing quite like actually doing it yourself.

"Luffy, you said our next destination is that traveling restaurant, right? Baratie?"

The girl leapt down from the figurehead, where she'd decided to make her nest. She was still pouting from the realization that she'd missed yet another chance to be chased by an angry mob, plump lower lip jutting out.

(Luffy was… To put it frankly, she was a strange, strange girl. Nami was still adjusting, but she thought she was doing rather well all things considered.)

Nami pulled out a rolled up map from her belt and splayed it out in the air between the two of them. "You told me it was in this general area - " a manicured finger traced a circle at a point considerably to the south from where they currently were " - but how sure are you? If it's a traveling restaurant, then there's no guarantee, right?"

"It'll be there," Luffy told her, shining with confidence. "Or if it isn't, we'll be able to find it anyway."

"How do you know?" Nami asked, a little impressed. She'd thought perhaps the girl was a directional idiot, but maybe not. She must have some sort of way to track the other ship to be this sure of herself. Right?

Luffy grinned at her, bright and carefree, and Nami felt her respect for the other girl rising.

"Because I'm lucky!"

Or not.

Her finely trimmed brow twitched furiously, and a shadow darkened her eyes. "Oi… Lu~ffy…"

A girlish face cocked to the side in question. "Yeah?"

"Come closer, won't you?" Nami asked pleasantly, a gentle smile curving her cheeks.

"Sure - ACK!"

Nami stomped off to the direction of the kitchen, leaving behind a confused, pouting captain in her wake, rubbing at a bump on her head.

"That didn't hurt though… Because I'm rubber…" Luffy mumbled petulantly.

She twitched but otherwise ignored the noirette, her focus back to the calculations roiling in her mind.

* * *

When she was finally alone on deck, Luffy reached into the sack she had thrown at the mast earlier to fish out a thick book, its wraparound jacket nondescript and a dull black, and dug deeper into the mass of burlap to locate a quill and a jar of ink.

She glanced around again to see if anyone was watching and then retreated to her perch on Merry's head.

A dyed leather thong was uncoiled. The unblemished spine crackled as she laid the book open on her palms. Luffy took a moment to touch her nose to the weave of where pressed sheets met leather and just inhale, appreciating the unyielding press of its creamy eggshell finish cool and smooth against her skin, the rich, evocative smell of perfumed leather, the crisp tang of fresh, untouched paper…

She had always loved the smell of books, whether new or old. Her childhood had made it frustratingly hard to get ahold of any sort of literature: Garp hadn't been of the academic sort, and Foosha hadn't had any scholars. The arrival of the Akagami Pirates and Benn's private collection had been like a godsend... but that had only lasted a year or so before Shanks left Dawn Island for good and she was shuttled off to live under Dadan's care.

Living with the bandits had made it even more impossible to settle down and read as much as she wanted, what with the chaos of Ace and Sabo and with her rekindled determination to become stronger and stronger, strong enough so that she could act on the knowledge she carried in her soul. The few texts she had managed to wheedle out of her gramps were settled into the roots of a great tree, having been burnt to ashes quite a few years ago.

She didn't regret it - not any of it - but it was still nice to appreciate the smaller things in life.

The inside was no less unremarkable than its plain leather wrap, filled with only white pages that impatiently awaited the lines of her scrawl. They beckoned to her, begging to be filled with something, anything, to fill the blank void, and she was more than happy to oblige.

Luffy spread the deliciously heavy journal across her lap and contemplated it, tapping the pen's goose feather against her lip. Her memories were only so strong because she held onto them tightly, almost obsessively so, constantly reminding herself of what she had read in that other life so they wouldn't slip away before they found their use. But now… now, she had to make space for new memories, new experiences, her own adventure. So she would. And after that, she would record her crew's journey too, because Hiluluk really had it right when he said death was being forgotten, and that was such a lonely thought. She wouldn't let her friends be forgotten even centuries after their last adventure, whenever that would be.

So Luffy inked her nib and set it to the first page and began to write in her first language.

_'__In the original tale of One Piece_, _Monkey D. Luffy, child of Monkey D. Dragon and one of the many heirs of the Will of D, was a brash, rambunctious _boy_...__'_

* * *

Sabo grimaced to himself as his leader swept into the room, dark cowl shadowing his face as thickly as it always did. The blond glanced to the IV drip feeding into his arm. Another reckless mission; another day in the infirmary; another silent rebuke from their stoic leader, despite the fact that he had succeeded in fulfilling his objectives. The man did so disapprove when Sabo did something unnecessarily nearing suicide, especially being the second in command as he was. Leader would never stop him if Sabo thought it necessary, and, indeed, sometimes found it amusing as well, but that didn't mean the man had to like the thought of losing operatives due to carelessness.

Monkey D. Dragon came to a stop at the foot of his gurney with arms crossed, and Sabo promptly gave his mission report. Short and to the point, filled with all the pertinent information. Everything he'd done, everything he'd discovered, everything he'd reaffirmed. He even went as far as to give an estimate as to how his team's slight deviations from the original plan would affect the future of that particular country. As the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff, he had done this so many times that it came naturally to him.

He wasn't sure how the man did it, but no one could wear that air of reproof quite as well as Dragon-san could; newcomers had been known to go into nervous breakdowns just by the man's presence. On the worst of days leader could even send nervous sweat dribbling down the back of _his _neck, though it had never unnerved him enough to stop his self-destructive tendencies. On the best of days, however, Sabo could get away with it by distracting the man in a very particular way.

"Dragon-san... do you know what Christmas is?"

The man paused at this abrupt statement from someone who had been ordered to talk as little as possible, save for the necessary report. Admittedly, the purple bruise blooming on his throat hurt like a bitch by now, but he preferred the physical pain. It reminded him that he was still alive, that he hadn't faded away that day eight years ago, that even though the world - even though his siblings - did not, could not, know of his survival, he was indeed still living, still breathing, could still see them again someday. And besides, this particular topic was one he was rather fond of. (He could bear through any pain, if it was for her, for them.)

The man said nothing, but the oppressive air of disapprobation slowly began to lessen, as if Dragon suspected the words Sabo was about to say next.

"I didn't either. I still don't really; something to do with some obscure religion called Christianity and fat bearded guy? Luffy didn't explain it very well, but it's not like we needed an excuse to have a feast. The hard part was convincing everyone to get presents for everyone else." His throat protested as a chuckle bubbled from his lungs. He ignored it, warmed by thoughts of his true family. The memory of a brightly grinning little girl came alight on his own face, stretching and creasing the stiff skin of his scar. "I'm pretty sure Luffy is the most stubborn person in the world, though, so it's not really a surprise that she even got that grouch Ace to join in. Then again... you wouldn't believe how convincing your daughter's pout is."

Dragon-san, leaning against the wall to the right of his bed now, shifted as he always did when Sabo mentioned Luffy's heritage. But they were alone, and the infirmary had been designed to make wiretapping impossible, particularly since so many confidential statements had to be given there instead of in the office. (The more he thought about this harsh truth, the more it left a bad taste in his mouth.)

Sabo was long used to it; he'd known about Luffy's father before he'd even met the man, had referred to him as 'Luffy's father' the moment he'd realized who his dark savior was. She was the first of the three to openly disclose every part of herself after all. Even though she was the youngest - or maybe because of it - they had been the ones to follow her lead instead of the other way around.

And perhaps the only reason he still _had _stories of Luffy to tell Dragon-san after all this time was because Sabo was guilty of hoarding all of his precious memories with his sister.

Well, he'd never claimed to be anything but selfish, no matter what everyone else seemed to think.

* * *

Hours later, the light of the moon her lantern and the rushing of waves her only companion, Luffy had just begun inking in the events of Mock Town when she heard a shuffling behind her.

"Luffy?" her new sniper called out tentatively. She twisted around to see him standing at the base of Merry's figurehead, a curious glint in his eye. His mane of curls was left wild around his head, the bandanna long gone, and he was clothed in loose, comfortable attire.

"Oh, Usopp. You're not sleeping?"

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, I tried, but somehow I couldn't get comfortable."

Ah. She understood.

But he looked so ashamed at this admission, so she didn't say as much. Instead, she volunteered a, "Sleeping on a ship takes a little getting used to!" He took it for the offer it was and agreed heartily.

Silence reigned between them once more as Usopp stepped up to the railing next to her perch and looked out onto the ocean. Luffy knew him to be a bit of an artist, so he was probably appreciating the play of moonlight against rippling water, the way everything around them seemed at the same time so soft and so harsh.

"Luffy," Usopp began again, his voice hesitant. She tilted her head in his direction and saw that he was still looking out in the depths of the sea rather than at her. "How… how likely is it that I'll die? Sailing with you?"

"Hmm," she replied, looking up at the moon. "Really, really, likely." There was another silent pause, his heavy gaze resting on her. Then she turned back to him and smiled, full of feeling, and said, "But I won't let you die. Because I like you. You're my friend."

His eyes went wide with shock for a moment. And then he relaxed, smiled back at her, crinkles spreading out from the corners of his eyes. "You know, I... don't want to die… but if it's dying for my dream, I think… I think I might be able to do it."

"Huh?" And it was her turn to be surprised at this, because wasn't Usopp supposed to be the coward?

"Not right now," he hastily corrected. "Not as I am right now. I… I'm still too scared for… for… death. But I feel like, like I can reach that point, maybe. Where I become a true brave man of the sea. It's not this far off dream like it was before, I feel like maybe I can grab hold of it... one day. One day soon. Definitely."

"Definitely," she agreed, eyes warm. She had full faith in him, and perhaps he could feel that too, because his spine straightened and he met her gaze straight on.

They shared another quiet smile, and Usopp turned back to the men's bunks with a muted 'Goodnight' that she returned.

Luffy turned back to her journal and continued to write.

* * *

Shanks paused as the cold breeze buffeting against the mouth of the cave seemed to whisper words to him. As unlikely as it was to be true, he smiled at the thought that perhaps Luffy was talking to him from across the ocean. She certainly was willful enough for it.

Ah, now that he thought of it, she'd probably set sail by now, hadn't she?

Shanks grinned and turned to face the rest of the cave. Curious eyes followed his movement, confused as to why he had suddenly stood up in the first place.

"Men!" he roared, thrusting four mugs full of booze into the air. "Let's have ourselves a party!"

"Eh? A party? Why, captain?"

"Why not!"

And the Akagami Pirates roared with laughter and knocked back their drinks.

_Come, Luffy. I've been waiting._

* * *

Zeff the Red Leg breathed out a stream of warm air and stared up into the cold moon. A wind of change was blowing towards the ship; Zeff could feel it in these old bones. And the one to be affected by it most…

A jaded mind turned towards the young protege sleeping soundly a few doors away. Only nineteen, and he already believed himself to be a full-grown man; always so impatient, that boy, always striving towards adulthood and never quite reaching it - or perhaps reaching it unreasonably soon. The damned brat's life had not been spared just so he would chain himself to this restaurant in atonement for the rest of his life.

Zeff was old now, too old and too handicapped for a life of violent ocean storms and the constant chase of adventure. But the boy... the boy wasn't. He was young, still. Young and talented, though the once infamous pirate captain would never say so aloud. He had his entire life in front of him, time to search for his dreams and find his own nakama to live for.

Sanji knew what it meant to be a cook, knew it too well, and Zeff wouldn't stand for letting him waste away doing nothing of much worth out in the middle of East Blue.

She just hoped that this approaching catalyst wouldn't be the death of him.

* * *

**AN**

'_This_' is English. Because Luffy knows she runs the risk of her nakama reading the journal, so she's trying to make sure they can't.

I… like books. I really really like books. You guys probably like books too, seeing as how you're on this site. Somehow the vague idea that Luffy would write down her adventures ended up with me waxing poetic about books. You understand, yeah? Yeah.

Shorter than usual since Shanks! Sabo! Deep character interaction! Dragon! A surprise! And a very subtle hint.

… But very much _not _in that order.

Next chapter, Sanji appears. Briefly. Next next chapter, however, is very Sanji-intensive.

And I'm really really really _really _glad you guys like my version of Luffy (though I guess you wouldn't be reading this in the first place if you didn't). I'm trying my best with the tricky little dance called 'Change Fundamental Parts Of A Character While Still Keeping Her In Character', and I'm not entirely sure how I'm doing with that, so it's a relief to hear that I'm not inadvertently Mary-Sueing her in some horrible way, or making her OOC, or making her intrinsically dislikable.

**Reviews**

Wolfsbane Will: Changed your alias? XD As for the journal thing, I've already made it a later mini plot point. Don't even try to wiggle away from my gratitude! It won't work!

Guest and general yumi: Both of your wishes will be granted next chapter! (Sanji and ZoroxLuffy moments, respectively.)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed [lilsakuraxxXX (domo!), Wicken25, Juliedoo (omg thank you thank you thank you that made me really happy x), general yumi, guest, EVA-Saiyajin, Wolfsbane Will, Telepath98 (well… uh… next chapter? :D?), wordcrafter (thank youuuu!), Marie, Mairposa (I'm glad! I'm trying to pull away from canon without messing with the overall scheme of things too badly (yet), and it's a relief to hear that you liked it), ShaDow EmpIre (ahaha thank _you_)], and everyone who favourited and alerted!


	10. Peasemeal

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Ten: Peasemeal**

* * *

"Behold! This artistic masterpiece! Yes, our flag has been finished by yours truly - OW!"

Luffy kicked him in the shin. "That's your symbol! Stuuupid!"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow... You didn't have to hit me!"

"Bleeeh," she told him, sticking her tongue out and pulling down the skin under her eye.

Usopp pulled down the skin under both eyes and stuck his tongue out even more. "Bleeeeh!"

"Stop that you idiots," Nami called from the side, her eyes rolling. "Usopp, just finish the actual flag. And Luffy, stop distracting him."

"Yes ma'am," the two youngest crew mates mumbled in unison, suitably chastised. One shuffled forward with a paintbrush in hand and the other went to find a Zoro to mope on.

* * *

Zoro grunted as something landed heavily on his torso. "What the - "

He cracked an eye open to see his captain sprawled bodily across his lap, peering up at him with her pink lower lip extended in a childish pout. He had a brief thought as to how that lip would feel rolled between his teeth but it was swiftly banished.

"Nami won't let me play with Usopp," she whined.

He would have responded, except that her buoyant energy seemed somehow less today, and there were smudges of shadow under her long lashes, and her eyelids were drooping the slightest bit, which was more than they ever did; she always seemed to want to take everything in, all at once, so to see her eyes as anything less than impossibly wide was strange.

"Luffy, did you sleep last night?"

"I didn't," she responded promptly.

Zoro sighed and shifted his shoulders against the wall behind him, tugging her higher against his chest. Their legs tangled together and her body splayed directly on top of his as she obediently followed the direction of large hands. Brown eyes watched him curiously.

"Comfortable?"

"Yeah."

"Then sleep."

She blinked at him.

And then a smile crawled across her cheeks, slow and surprised. "Okay."

Zoro closed his eyes and listened to the crashing of the waves, the soft breaths against his arm, basking in the warmth of the sun and of his captain. Arms wrapped around his chest, it only took a couple minutes for Luffy to fall asleep to the steady cadence of his heartbeat under her ear.

* * *

"Luffy, Usopp's finished the flag. Do you want to see…"

Nami stopped, held in place by the unexpectedly endearing sight. Luffy hadn't entered their new room at all last night and Nami had worried a little that the girl was running on fumes. But it seemed Zoro had taken care of that problem.

His entire body was folded around Luffy, his arms slung snugly around her waist and her head tucked under his chin. The captain's expression was insouciance exemplified, all of her muscles lax and her mouth gaping open the slightest bit. She looked like she was having a nice dream.

_Isn't that uncomfortable?_ she wondered, picking out the awkward angle that Zoro's shoulders were slumped against hard wood. It probably was, though you would never be able to tell from his placid expression.

Nami rolled her eyes. With feet silent from years of thieving, she retreated into the bunks below, returning a few moments later with full arms. Nimble fingers worked the soft pillow under Zoro's broad shoulders, and she spread a light blanket over the two of them, making sure she wasn't accidentally suffocating Luffy. She sat back to admire her work for a second.

"Thanks," Zoro grunted drowsily, his eyes still closed.

Nami sniffed disdainfully and immediately stood up. "Whatever."

* * *

"_Whether she's a girl or boy, does it matter? Even the biggest and toughest of fellows can't always be called men if they're lacking in heart, and that's something our little Luffy definitely has in spades."_

"_... Will this hat suffice? It's my favourite, you know."_

"_Then it's a promise. Grow strong, sail these seas, become the greatest pirate there is, and when you are able to return this hat to me, I'll give you a proper answer. I'll be waiting, Luffy!"_

* * *

"Stop! That ship over there! Please help! We need a doctor!"

Luffy felt herself being dragged back into awareness. It was a slow, thick process, like swimming in molasses.

"What is it," someone rumbled beneath her.

"It's a boat," another, higher voice replied from somewhere above her head. "I can see... two guys... one of them is down! Oi, Nami, can you get a rope over here?"

"I goddit," Luffy mumbled. She yawned and threw her right arm over the railing of the Going Merry without looking, sweeping her arm wildly back and forth, her fingers skimming along the surface of the water until they hit something hard. She absently traced along the hull of the smaller boat and ignored the cry of alarm when she grabbed the first humanoid shape her hand came across, recalling her limb back to the ship with elasticity loosened to prevent smacking Zoro across the face with a flying body.

"YOSAKU!"

"I have the rope. Here Usopp, toss it to the other guy. Luffy, let me take a look at this one."

"Guh 'head," she replied, as the limp body she was holding on to rolled over the railing and dropped onto the deck. Luffy let go of him and her arm returned to her side with a snap. "Ah~" she yawned again and burrowed further into the warm mass under her.

"Oi captain, I think it's about time to wake up," Zoro said, sounding rather amused.

"Nooo," she groaned, curling into her first mate. "You can't make me."

"You'll miss dinner," Usopp suggested.

Luffy jackknifed into a sitting position, her eyes flying open. The blanket fluttered to the ground behind her and Zoro's arms fell to the side. "I'm up! I'm up!"

"Luffy, now that you're awake, go squeeze me some limes and bring it here."

"Ah, sheesh. And I was having such a nice dream, too." Luffy bounced to her feet and went to go do Nami's bidding, stretching herself this way and that as she walked.

* * *

Luffy returned to the deck amidst shouts of, "Z-Zoro-aniki!"

"Johnny, huh... so I was right, it was you guys. Why's Yosaku in this state?"

"I don't know!" Johnny replied, voice filled with panic. "He just collapsed all of a sudden yesterday! All of his old wounds started bleeding, and some of his teeth have fallen out, and he's really, really pale!"

"He has scurvy," Nami told them, her voice dripping with the sentiment of 'I'm surrounded by idiots'. "If the symptoms only began yesterday, then he just needs vitamin C and a few days of rest. He'll be fine."

'_Yesterday'? Not 'two days ago'?_

But then Luffy recalled that they had left Syrup Village perhaps a day earlier than she had originally expected, so perhaps that was right.

"Nami, I have the juice!"

"Good, give it here."

Luffy trotted over to her navigator, bent over the prone man on the deck, and handed over the mug of lime juice. She watched with wide eyes as Nami forcefully poured the liquid down his throat, ignoring her poor victi- _patient_'s sputtering.

Usopp sidled over beside her and whispered, "Er... Nami's... Nami's pretty scary, isn't she?"

"Uhn, uhn," Luffy said back, nodding her head emphatically but still unable to tear her eyes away from the scene of tortur- _treatment_ before her. Johnny, too, looked as if he wanted to say something to protest the handling of his buddy but was otherwise too scared to actually do anything about it.

In the end, it was Zoro who voiced their worries. "Oi. Keep doing that and he'll actually die, you sea witch."

Nami stopped her medicating to snap back at Zoro, and everyone else involved breathed sighs of relief. "What did you say, Little Lost Swordsman-san?!"

"Ahhh?" A blood vessel swelled on Zoro's temple. Sparks flew as the two leaned forward and glared at each other.

"Guh- whazhappening?" A new voice slurred. "Was I drowning?" It was like watching the build up to a trainwreck when Yosaku suddenly sat up... and face planted directly into Nami's breasts. "Hunh? Whahs dis?"

A pleasant smile and a dark shadow simultaneously stole across the navigator's face. "Ara," she said, not moving at all. "You're awake, are you?"

"Uh- yesh? But whahs..." A tanned hand reached up and confusedly groped Nami. Everyone froze as the shadow morphed into an angry, spiraling cloud of murky purple, billowing from her head. Blood vessels visibly popped along her exposed skin.

"Luffy," Usopp hissed urgently. "Luffy, can you see that?"

"Yup," she told him, slowly shuffling away from the time bomb beside her. Her face stretched into an amused grimace as Nami exploded.

"PERVERT! JUST DIE, YOU IDIOT!"

A fist reared angrily back.

Yosaku's cries of agony echoed in their ears for hours afterward.

* * *

"We're the bounty hunting duo! I'm Johnny," he announced, taking his pose. His partner mirrored him, and he tried not to wince sympathetically at the lumps swelling on his face.

"An' 'm Y's'ku."

"Buahahaha!" The strawhatted girl threw back her head and laughed. Loud and unfeminine though it was, it was also enviously carefree. "You- you look ridiculous! Nami got you good! Ahahahaha!"

As Yosaku blubbered through a protest on how he still didn't understand why he had been so wrongfully abused, Johnny began to properly observe the woman whom Zoro-aniki had sworn his allegiance to.

It was strange. It was… very strange.

The last time he had seen Zoro-aniki, the man's opinion towards the fairer sex had been less than respectful, to the point of discomforting him at times. While the man he admired would never do anything as crude as catcalling or forcing himself on a woman, the so-called beast had still firmly believed that women were a weak species as a whole, to be coddled and cloistered by men.

So then… what was this? Zoro-aniki was not only a member of a pirate crew… but under a woman's lead? No, not a woman, even. A girl. A waif of a girl who looked like she would topple over at a gust of wind if it were not for the proud way that she carried herself, the way everything she did carried a wild, untamed sort of undertone that Johnny could identify more overtly in her first mate (and what a strange thought that was, because if the Majū ever chose pirating as a profession, it should have been as a captain rather than as the first mate).

Proud as he himself was, perhaps Aniki had been attracted to her kindred soul? To that straight set of her shoulders, the powerful stride of her walk, the freedom of her smile? But no, he was not such a little man that mere attraction would move him so. Then, what? What would cause such a proud, proud individual to adopt this kind of gaze?

The way he watched her, it almost looked like… no, it definitely looked like…

It looked like devotion.

* * *

Hawkeyes was at this Baratie place, was he?

He would have to go see for himself.

Zoro was no fool. The best swordsman? Not yet, not by far. But to miss this chance was unacceptable. On these infinitely large seas, the chance that Zoro would meet Hawkeyes Mihawk twice was too damn low to allow any opportunity to slip through his fingers. It was likely that he was walking to his death for this, but that didn't matter, because he would rather die than hide with his tail between his legs like a coward. Fate would decide for him, would decide whether or not he would be able to continue moving forward, to become stronger and stronger and stronger, to don the title of Greatest Swordsman in The World.

If he died though, would Luffy be sad? Would she cry?

Zoro angled a look at his young captain, laughing and joining in with Usopp's antics, or perhaps it was that Usopp was joining hers. Her brown eyes were bright now, drunk on happiness.

He already knew the answer. _Yes_. Yes she would.

But did he care? Was that knowledge enough to stay his hand?

_No_, he decided.

He wouldn't allow himself to think otherwise. There wasn't an 'otherwise'.

Because despite the warmth lingering on his skin, Zoro was certain that he wasn't _that _attached.

* * *

"Luffy, have you decided what to order?"

"It all looks so good… I can't choose!" She grinned brightly at the waiter, standing beside Zoro with a notepad in hand. "So just gimme three of everything on the menu. And some milk."

"Alright, that's a cup of milk, and three of - ..." There was a pause, and his pen bled a blot of ink onto the page as he gave her a blank stare. "P-pardon me?"

Zoro rolled his eyes. "You heard her."

"Three of everything j-just for the four of you?"

"Of course not!" Usopp scoffed. The waiter's shoulders relaxed. "That's only for her. As for me, I'd like to order the grilled pike with wild rice, and orange juice."

"Roasted snapper with orange-scented couscous, and orange juice for me too."

"Junmai sake and nikujaga."

"Don't forget mine, okay?"

Bewildered but not knowing what else to do, the waiter tore off the ruined sheet and jotted down all of their orders on a fresh one, his pen briefly hesitating over the last line before finishing it off. "V-very good. If that's all, I'll just take those…"

"Wait," Luffy said, shaking her head and not letting go of her menu. "I'll probably order more later, so you should leave one."

"M-more?!"

Zoro grunted. Dark eyes glared up impatiently at the other man. "Just bring me my sake already."

"Ah… Y-yes, of course sir!" He scampered off and Luffy watched him go with raised brows.

"What was his problem?"

"He's probably never met anyone who eats as much as you," Nami told her. She rested her chin on her palm and gave Luffy a curious look. "Speaking of, do you actually have enough money to pay for all that?"

"Yeah, I do. Why?" Luffy began to tap her fingers against the tabletop to a lively little tune, pulled from her memories of Before.

_Poketto no coin, soreto you wanna be my friend? We are, we are, on the cruise!_

"It's just, I've never seen you raiding like a normal pirate, or even earning money from anywhere. It's a little hard to believe you're not broke by now, especially since you paid for all our supplies back at Usopp's town."

The thoughtless beat stopped.

Luffy was slow to answer, and when she did speak, it was mumbled and staccato; she was rethinking each reluctant word as she said it. She wasn't even sure what she should be saying, but forced out the words into open air nonetheless.

"My... older brother - brothers and I… the two - three - two of us, we stored a lot of treasure to prepare for when we set off, and we - I... ended up getting a lot more than I - we expected..."

Her hands, splayed flat on the table, spasmed at the reminder of why, exactly she had received so much more than she should have.

_("Luffy's our sibling too, she should get a third of the treasure, Ace!")_

_(A broken, hysterical laugh. "I guess it's just the two of us, huh, Luffy? I wonder if Sabo'll still want us to save his share for him.")_

No, Sabo was fine. Sabo had to be fine. There was no use worrying about it. If she started doubting herself, how could Ace possibly feel reassured when they met again?

She pulled her hands away from the table and sat on them, wedging them between her thighs and the cushioned seat. Sharp, hazel eyes caught the movement and self-reproach shot through them for the briefest moment.

Nami swiftly changed the subject, looking just as surprised as Luffy when she said, "I have an older brother too. He nags me a lot, always telling me how unsafe it is, what I'm doing."

"Really?" Luffy leaned in with wide eyes and her brief episode of anxiety fled from her thoughts. "What's his name?"

What was this? Nami had a brother? Not a sister?

"It's Nojiko."

Nojiko... wasn't a woman?

What?

"You have siblings? How many?" Usopp asked, curious about his new crewmates.

Nami stiffened, having forgotten that there were other people at the table. "One," she said shortly, and that conversation was finished before it could be truly begun.

* * *

"Table five... grilled pike, roasted snapper, nikujaga," Patty called, reading off the three slips of paper from the sliding order rack. Deeper in the kitchen, one of the chefs who were finished their other orders immediately began working on all three dishes. "And three of…" Confused eyes scanned down the inordinately long slip of paper. "Oi, isn't this… This is everything on the menu! Steve!" he hollered, voice echoing past the swinging kitchen doors. "Steve!" The young waiter appeared before him, sweating nervously. Patty flapped the order in his face. "What is this? Is this your idea of a joke?"

"No, sir! That is a customer's order! Sir! Three of everything on the menu! Sir! And the customer will be ordering more later! Sir!"

"This is an actual order?" Patty tugged at the rope tied around his head, wanting to scratch at it but knowing he shouldn't do such an unsanitary thing. "Just how many people are at this table?"

"Four, sir!"

"Sounds like a hungry bunch," Sanji commented, striding over and handing a dish to the fidgeting Steve. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled back along his muscled forearms, his black jacket long ago discarded. Dress was important, but his work was even more so. "Go take that to table thirteen. And Patty, you shitty bastard, leave off the waiters. We just got this batch trained, it'll be a pain to have to do it all over again."

"Of course, sous-chef Sanji..."

"Shut up, you damn chicken head! When I see something ridiculous like this, it's my duty to call out on it!"

"What 'ridiculous'," Sanji scoffed. "This isn't the largest order we've gotten by half. You shitty cook."

"Who's the shitty cook?! I don't want to hear that from _you_!" A thick, arched eyebrow twitched in anger. "Why don't you and I take care of it, chicken head? We'll see whose dishes they like better, and I'll show you exactly who the shitty cook here is!"

"Oi, that's a first. You actually can have good ideas, you croissant-faced bastard." Sanji smirked confidently. His hand twitched towards his cigarettes, but he resisted the urge, knowing the smoke might interfere with subtle nuances of flavor. He tilted a sharp chin in challenge. "You're on."

* * *

He's fine. He's fine. Father saved him. He's perfectly fine, she reminded herself. No body. So he had to be fine.

_But things are different._ _**It **__was different. Who's to say the result is the same? _a little voice in the back of her mind prodded.

But Sabo's my brother, surely he wouldn't really have died, right? Right?

_Ace was Luffy's brother, and he still died._

She grit her teeth at the reminder. She still didn't have a solution to that particular issue, since she didn't know if her gamble from three years ago would work. _But whatever I have to do, I won't allow that to happen this time_, she swore furiously. _I won't, I won't, I won't. I don't care _what _I mess up, that absolutely cannot happen._

The waiter returned to their table with arms laden with plates, considerably more frazzled looking than when he had brought them their drinks. A large bowl of "Baratie style meat and potato stew," was placed in front of Zoro. "Flame grilled pike with rice pilaf," was slid in front of Usopp, and Nami was given her "Roasted snapper with mango salsa and orange-scented couscous." He turned to her and said, "The first of your order will be coming in a few moments. Thank you for your patience."

Luffy banished her dark thoughts, and pushed the lingering curiosity over Nojiko to the side. Eating was a time of joy, not this kind of gloominess. She knew from experience that eating with someone in a bad mood turned everything in your mouth to ash, and she wouldn't do that to her nakama.

So she lifted her fists and cheered when the appetizers began to roll in on trays.

* * *

**AN**

*sneezes*

what's with all this fluff in the air? jeez

So, yup, Zoro fluff. And Nami too. Just cuz. Now that Sanji's here, Sanji fluff will finally be able to come up, which is a relief because I rather love him. :)

You may be confused at the presence of waiters in the Baratie. In canon, Sanji said, "I'm filling in for all our waiters who ran away yesterday."

But they set out early from Usopp's town, therefore Luffy's 'today' _is _that yesterday. So.

Much more Sanji focus next chapter! :)

This one is also a little on the shorter side, and I apologize. I was agonizing over how to introduce Sanji, and had to force my hands to type, so I feel like everything is stiffer and choppier than I'd prefer.

Peasemeal is a kind of porridge. It's also homophone to 'piecemeal' and 'peace meal'. Make of that what you will.

Nikujaga is literally meat(niku)-potatoes(jaga) in japanese. A hearty stew that goes well with sake.

**Reviews**

Nyasararu: MUAHAHAHAHA. *ahem* Shhhhh.

Guest: It was only... a week? Um. My updates are mostly weekly? Um.

henhazuneko: It may happen... but if it does, not entirely for humor. I want more Law toooo XD

Juliedoo: Ufufufufu... I can indeed... ;3

Thank you to all my reviewers [Nyasararu, henhazuneko, EVA-Saiyajin, Son of Whitebeard, Kiara97, Guest (x2), Mairposa, Juliedoo], and everyone who favourited and alerted! :)

**Important- Please Read**

Do you guys prefer shorter chapters and quicker updates, or longer chapters and slower updates? Because doing long chapters (5000 ~ 6000 words) like before will take me longer than it used to. A 3000~ word chapter is much easier to push out (sounds like giving birth, ahahaha), and will take more or less half of the time, depending on what it is I'm having difficulties with.

Just review with a "short, quick" or a "long, slow", if you don't have anything else to say. Please and thank you. :)

This and next chapter will be of the short-quick variety, just so I can try it out.


	11. Lady of the Sea

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Eleven: Lady of the Sea**

* * *

The kitchen of the Baratie was a battlefield of heat and colour and flashing knives, of simmering sauces and sizzling fish and roaring flames, licking up to the ceiling. Each of the many men lined up along the counters were deeply engrossed in the masterpieces being crafted under their fingers.

Or so it seemed. In truth, all of them had at least part of their attentions focused on the literal battle occurring only a few feet away.

"Oi, did you hear? Patty and sous-chef Sanji are having a cook-off to see who's the better cook!"

"It's been a long time coming," Carnie replied, rolling his eyes. "Maybe now we'll get some peace from their stupid fights. Always shitty cook this, chicken head that."

At the epicenter of the storm stood a young blond man, his face a mask of calm focus, the exposed skin of his forearms stretching over the shifting muscles underneath. Pale hands moved so quickly as to be barely discernible, the only proof as to their activities the beautifully set dishes being set on a rolling tray. A bead of sweat dribbled down his temple and he briefly pressed his rolled up sleeve to it before continuing forth.

A single swipe of a knife, and the line of fish arranged on the cutting board cleanly bisected from head to tail. A trio of lobsters were extracted from the oven, perfectly baked and a rosy, steaming red; bare fingers handled and neatly shucked the carapaces without a flinch, leaving behind only pink, unblemished flesh. The complex clarification process required to make Baratie's double consommé was followed to completion without the slightest falter, in less than half the time it would take any other cook in the entire establishment save three. Thick slices of beef wellington revealed a perfectly medium rare steak coated in golden brown pastry and an aromatic layer of pâté de foie gras and duxelles. Smooth, creamy Béarnaise sauce glistened invitingly on a flame seared steak, plated next to a blooming chrysanthemum of fugu sashimi, transparent slices of pufferfish spiraling beautifully on black ceramic.

His current display of skill was such that some of the cooks were alarmed at the sudden contrast to the usually laid back sous-chef. While perhaps talented for his age, Sanji was young and less experienced than most of the other chefs; his right to the position as the _Sous-Chef de Cuisine_, the 'Sub-Chief of the Kitchen', was questioned often and constantly, especially due to Sanji's propensity to lock horns with Owner Zeff. Wouldn't Patty or Carnie, older, more experienced, both nearly as familiar with and markedly more respectful towards Zeff be better choices?

But though chef Patty was a force to be reckoned with himself, this spectacle left no doubt that skill-wise, at the very least, the blond was more than suited to the title of second head in this restaurant of the sea.

Steve tripped into the kitchen several times, panting heavily from being shuttled back and forth. "The customer wanted more of…"

As he listed the orders, the other cooks couldn't help but to notice that a majority of them were salads and meat based foods that at first favoured neither Patty nor Sanji, and then gradually began to list towards dishes of Sanji's expertise.

The doors to the kitchen were in constant motion as waiters wheeled out the platters seemingly without end. Just as many were rolled back in, plates wiped clear of food, and the cooks goggled.

"How many people did you say were eating again? Four?"

"Ah, er, there are four people at the table, but... only person is eating," Steve replied.

"Only one person?!"

And Sanji remained oblivious to everything but the food set in front of him, the recipes blooming into completion through his efforts, the list of things he had yet to create hanging from the order rack above. He hadn't had the opportunity to go all out for a long while now, hadn't needed to, and he knew exactly why Patty had challenged him in such a way despite knowing clear well that Sanji was Zeff's protégé for a reason. His arguments with the old hag had been coming to a head these days, and the shit head, without being so obvious about it, was giving him an opportunity to expel the restless energy that had begun to coil under his skin.

Maybe he was thankful. Not like he'd ever tell the fish-faced bastard that.

A part of him was incredulous that a group of four - or had Steve mentioned that it was one, just now? - could possibly eat this much. And another was grateful towards whoever this customer was for giving him this chance to truly immerse himself in his work, because right at this moment he could even briefly be free of the shackles of his guilt, of what his very survival had done to Red Leg Zeff.

She may have been a nasty old hag, this mentor of his, but he owed her, owed her the debt of his life and the price of her everything.

There was nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than survival in the sea. That was why All Blue sang to him so, because it was a promise of life; a sea that, without price, without fail, _gave _life instead of relentlessly taking it away, where a cook could save _everyone_ because there would be _enough _for everyone, because though creating all the dishes in the world may be the stuff of dreams, it was the thought of this ultimate victory over the ocean, over death itself, that made this mystical sea a true cook's utopia.

But for now, what Zeff was trying to do with Baratie was close enough. It had to be enough.

Sanji had to be able to do at least that much.

He grinned a little to himself as he sprinkled garnish on the last of this series of orders. He could appreciate someone who appreciated his cooking, he thought, shooting a glance at the dirty plates being stacked beside the dishwasher, every last morsel of food having been scraped off by their mysterious hungry eater.

No waste. He liked the other guy already. If it was like this, Sanji felt justified in thinking that he had finally found the right person to test out his newest creation on.

The blond pulled out the marinated steak he had prepared and began to sear it on the grill. A boiling mixture of cabaret wine and dried cherries, salt and sugar and olive oil, was pulled off the heat. Baby greens and shaved carrots and other vegetables were arranged in a curved white plate, thinly cut steak aligned in a spoke pattern atop, fragrant brown candied pecans sprinkled intermittently, the dressing furiously whisked and drizzled over the entire dish.

"Oi, Steve," Sanji called, inspecting his work with a critical eye. The other man trotted up to him. "Take this to the customer, won't you? Tell him it's compliments of the chef."

"Oh, um, this isn't a menu item, is it, sir? What should I tell the customer it is?"

"Eh," Sanji shrugged. "It's a grilled peppercorn steak salad with cabernet-cherry vinaigrette and caramelized pecans. My newest creation. Name it whatever. But watch for his reaction; I need to know if it's good enough to add to the menu."

"As you wish, sir."

Steve stepped out of the kitchen with the plate held carefully on his palm, and Sanji watched him go, fingers drumming against the counter.

One minute.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Ah, fuck it, he was curious. He'd go see the guy's reaction himself.

Sanji silently slipped into the dining deck, eyes scouring for his mystery customer. Deft fingers reached for the pack of cigarettes in his pocket, flicking one out with the ease of practice. He bit it lightly and pulled it out the rest of the way, lighting it with his other hand without looking. Long, lean legs carried him along the edge of the room, to the stretch of wall closest to where table five stood, and it wasn't at all hard to spot his goal what with the way every eye in the dining room was turned to the round table only a few feet away from him.

Two men and two women. A double date? No, the atmosphere was all wrong for that.

He assessed the males. Curly brown hair, a long nose, thin, looked like he'd snap like a twig under one of Zeff's kicks. Short green hair - a seaweed ball? -, a bad tempered face, a tough guy. Three swords at his side. The other boy looked too skinny to eat so much, so this was probably the mystery customer.

Strange, what a dissatisfied feeling. He'd been expecting someone more… _more_? There was no way to justify such an expectation, but he'd subconsciously held it nonetheless.

Rolling the cigarette between his teeth, he glanced to the women and perked up immediately. Orange hair was tucked behind a curved ear, and hazel eyes were set in a small, pretty face. Her bodily proportions were perfect. More importantly, she carried the air of someone shouldering great responsibility, the gaze of someone who knew hardship and knew how to overcome, and he found that beautiful.

The other girl's back he'd seen from across the room, and he knew she was small, with feathery black hair and a yellow straw hat. But the stacks of plates on the table were obscuring her from sight now.

It was strange, the swordsman wasn't eating. In fact, none of the three he could see were eating at all.

Surely, that didn't mean the little one…?

"Typical Luffy," the orange-haired beauty sighed. "I don't know where all that food goes."

"Luffy, is it bad?" asked the scrawny boy. "You're taking a lot longer to eat this one."

The answer came from behind the stack in a high, girlish voice; pleasant enough, though the words a little rough, a little childish. This girl, he immediately decided, would likely be cute, rather than classy. Though it was a little strange that she referred to herself as '_ore_'.

"No," she answered, very seriously. "It's too good! I have to make this last as long as possible."

The corner of his mouth curled up around his smoke into a little grin. Satisfaction from being praised. Relief that he hadn't made a mistake. The intrinsic pleasure of having brought happiness to someone else.

"Hoh... how strange," the swordsman drawled. "To see Luffy not scarfing down food… That good, huh?"

"The yummiest thing I've ever eaten!" At that, a few waiters set upon the stacks of ceramic, clearing them away quickly, efficiently, and Sanji was awarded the first view of his mystery customer. "Nishishishi!"

His breath caught in his throat at the vision of her smile, resplendent with glee, and for a moment he could not tear his eyes away.

'_There is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the sea; there is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the interior of the soul'_, thus had a man once spoken.

But it was the voice of the sea that spoke to the soul, that stirred the heart with the promise of nothing and forever. It was the sea that he hated and adored in equal measure. Because the ocean was limitless and immortal, the beginning and end of all things in this world, and because there was always a little bit of it living in all women. In them he could see flashes of the sea, vast and beautiful and always changing. Giver of life, but at times utterly dangerous. Constant, but unpredictable by nature, secrets settling quietly in the shadows of the obscure deep.

Perhaps then, what made this particular girl so mesmeric was that everything was so much closer to the surface, resting right under her pale skin, barely contained. It wasn't just the transient glimpses that he usually managed to catch, before they were hidden by powders and airs, rules and manners and society. This girl... it was the ocean that bubbled in her laughter, the crash of waves in her wild movements. Eddies of simple joy effervesced in her wide open eyes, unrestrained, unconfined, and uninhibited. Untamed.

Alive.

It was only secondly that he registered the small smear of sauce dribbled on her chin, the daub of cream on her nose, the speckled foodstuffs on her cheeks. His eyes crinkled, and he could not explain with words how sweet he found the sight.

He also could not explain the simmer in his gut when the swordsman reached forward with a napkin and began to wipe up the girl's face, an amused chastisement on the man's tongue. She grinned at him and returned to the dish with renewed vigor and Sanji found his feet driving him forward, towards the table, to her side. He leaned down and took her hands and spoke the first words that sprang to mind, meeting her taken aback gaze with his own as he lilted,

"_You're a cavity in my oasis,  
You're a porthole in my sea,  
You're a stretch of the imagination  
every time you look at me._

_"You're an ocean in my wineglass,  
You're a Steinway on the beach,  
You're a captivating audience,  
an exciting Rembrandt...  
a masterpiece._"

"What the hell," the swordsman snapped. "Who're you?"

Sanji ignored him.

"My lovely lady, you gift me with your very existence. There can be no elation greater than the knowledge that the food made by this humble cook has brought you such joy."

"Oi, oi, oi," the long nosed boy hissed to the other fair maiden. "What's happening?"

"I think Luffy has an admirer," the beautiful woman slowly replied.

"There can be no greater blessing than to have you walk upon this deck. If you must depart this day, I implore you do so with the promise of a second coming, and a third, and a hundred more."

The surprised parting of her pale lips grew further, and then was tugged into a radiant grin. "What the heck," she said, laughing. "What a funny guy!"

Not quite the reaction he had hoped for, but he didn't mind. "For you, I will be the merriest of jesters."

"Wait," the tangerine tressed maiden said. "Did you say you made this? You're the sous-chef?"

"Indeed I am, miss."

The girl whose hands he still held - small, and scarred, and callused... _the hands of a fighter_ \- brightened at his words. "You made my food?"

He nodded again, a smile playing around his mouth in accompaniment to her own.

"Alright, I've decided," she said suddenly, after a short, contemplative pause. "Curly brow chef, join my pirate crew!"

"What?!"

"What!"

The swordsman glared. "_What_."

_What?_ thought Sanji.

* * *

It was a unanimous decision in the Baratie kitchen that Sanji had "won that one".

Patty wasn't particularly shocked. Other than a renewed determination to improve his skills, he had no particular qualms on having lost to Sanji, who basically specialized in everything. Patty was a _Poissonnier_, for fuck's sake. The _Chef de Partie_ of the fish orientated dishes, skilled with all foods but particularly with the dishes that fell under his own station. In fact, he was slightly better at such things than the brat, but what would that mean to someone who preferred roast beef?

So no, he didn't begrudge Sanji his victory, nor did he feel it personally. As long as the damn chicken head stopped picking fights with the Owner, he didn't even care. That had been the purpose, anyway.

_The damn kid should just leave Baratie already_, he thought. _Nobody wants him here anyway._

Because... it was clear that Sanji was being stifled, being stuck on this hunk of wood with the rest of the cooks. They had all come to Baratie after exploring what the world had to offer and wanting to settle into a place to belong again. The boy had never had the chance to do the same; if this restaurant was a house, then Sanji was the young boy forever chained to the window, watching the festivities of the world across the yard and being driven wild with frantic desire, wanting to join in but unable to for whatever reason.

Patty wasn't sure what that reason was, but it was painful to so much as look at the kid. Previous attempts to chase him away had been utterly unsuccessful, but he was reaching the peak of his life and it was as clear as gelatin filtered consommé that the bastard was becoming unbearably antsy. He'd get the boy off this boat if he had to drive him off with a pitchfork.

Owner Zeff likely had had the same idea, because she was becoming steadily more antagonistic towards the kid these days; her kicks were merciless, and her barbs dug treacherously deep.

So maybe that was why Patty stepped out of the bathroom and into a battlefield.

Spotting a straw hatted girl throwing fists at his boss, he didn't think before grabbing the nearest object and hurling it at her with all his strength.

* * *

**AN**

*Ore (俺), a rough, extremely masculine way of saying 'I'. This is the word tough guys use. All of the Mugiwara guys use this. Luffy being, well, _Luffy_, I don't think she'd be much different whatever gender (s)he is, so femLuffy'd probably use the same 'I' as maleLuffy.

I did tell you Sanji'd be more descriptive. XD

I actually went and searched up the hardest cooking techniques so Sanji could go and be impressive. Most of you probably won't quite read so deeply into it, since not many of you are advanced cooks (neither am I, lol… though I did work in a kitchen for a bit, and I have to say, this is not quite how it works, though I did try to blend what I know with what we see of Baratie).

The poem Sanji told Luffy is _Overmodulation_ by Charlotte M. Liebel-Fawls. Not mine. Neither is the quote about the sky and the sea, which is from _Les Misérables_ by Victor Hugo, but with sea and sky switched.

That All Blue thing, I can't take credit for that either. In that paragraph, I borrowed heavily from Ask Captain Tashigi's analysis of Sanji over on tumblr. I would have found some way to paraphrase it more, but the way she did it was just so perfect? And I couldn't bear to change it too heavily? A beautiful analysis, maybe a little idealistic, but very thought provoking. If you guys want to go read it, just google 'askcaptaintashigi sanji character analysis'.

I love Sanji, but he's so hard to write gahhh! Why can't he more straightforward, like Zoro or Luffy, or more explained, like Usopp or Nami? We really don't get very much insight to his past except for that single incident between him and Zeff, and we never really know what he's thinking when he's not being silly, and his face is always almost half covered, so we never really get a full expression either. Family? Friends (other than Mugiwara crew)? What defines him, other than being a chef and being chivalrous? What inspires him when he suddenly disappears to do something that will ultimately save the strawhats later? Where do his ideas come from? COME ON SANJI, GIVE ME YOUR BRAIN.

I have finals next week, sooo... **expect nothing out of me for a week or two**. That's actually why I'm posting this now even though the next chapter isn't finished yet. Sorry...!


	12. Omake: Okaerinasai

**Omake**

**What if Shanks had a presence in the childhood of Luffy, Sabo, and Ace?**

**Age 7**

* * *

"Oi, you landlubbers," Shanks called, a wide grin splitting his face. "I'm back!"

"Yeah, yeah," Dadan replied, flapping a hand and not bothering to glance up.

The redheaded pirate blinked at the lackluster greeting. "The kids aren't here?"

"Out hunting," was the curt response. Shanks just laughed it off and exited the large cabin, eyes closing as he searched for a cluster of three different energies. Such potential in such little packages, he thought, honing in on his goal a fair distance into the wild forest.

* * *

"Run!" Ace yelled, as the hulking Goliath of a bear brushed off their attacks with an annoyed twitch. Sabo's face was a similar mask of alarm, while Luffy... Well, it'd be a far stretch to expect the little idiot _not_ to be grinning, to be honest.

But then she tripped, and that pull of glee gave way to shock, and then to fear, and both he and Sabo gave cries of horror, desperately trying to reach their little sister as the beast drove razor claws down, down, down

_red_

"Hey there big guy," a deceptively jolly voice spoke. As short as he still was - though Ace was dread to admit such a thing - he could see nothing but the man's broad back, the vibrant waves of red that peered out from under a well-kept straw hat, and the sliver of a blade braced against sharp claws. But the tiny quivering of stiff brown fur in nonexistent wind belayed tremors wracking the skin underneath and he knew, he _knew_, that dark, ringed eyes were glaring coldly at beady black. "Why don't you play with me instead?"

The bear dropped to all four feet with a high whine; it turned and fled, visibly shaken by the presence of a greater predator.

Wide chocolate brown peered up in awe, hero-worship obvious in the brightening of irises. The afternoon sun sat high in the sky and its light reflected golden from Luffy's eyes. "S-Shanks?"

"Hiya, Luffy," the man greeted, grinning at the child sitting on the forest floor, his own eyes crinkled closed.

It was hard to tell if the size of his smile was a reflection of what Shanks truly felt, or if its purpose was to protect Luffy from the danger lingering in his gaze. The adoration she met him with was not something to be dismissed or trivialized; Ace didn't doubt that there were many lengths that the pirate captain would go to keep the stars in her eyes. It was a sentiment the boy could wholly relate to, but knew he should be wary of.

Nonetheless, he was grateful for Shanks's intervention. Though he would not go so far as to call him a 'good man' (such people were truly rare in this world, Ace could personally attest), Akagami no Shanks was… rather tolerable, as far as grown-ups went.

Luffy jumped to her feet, an open-mouthed smile stretching her cheeks impossibly wide. "Shanks! It's Shanks! Ace, Sabo, look! It's Shanks!" She cheered and began to crawl up the man's cloak, eager to reclaim her throne on his shoulders after months of separation; the pirate captain made short of her work by lifting her up and seating her as she desired. Shanks lifted his hat by its rim and plopped it up on Luffy's head. She giggled and shuffled her hands wildly in his freed red hair, twisting it up into twin devil horns.

"We can see that, idiot," Ace replied, rolling his eyes at the immature display of affection.

Sabo, however, was breathless with shock, the remnants of panic burning its way through his lungs. Relief echoed in the tremor of his voice as he finally choked out, "Shanks, you really have the best timing."

A large warm hand landed fondly on blond and black. The pirate captain looked down at both Ace and Sabo, his eyes back to normal but smile grown wider. "I wouldn't let anything happen to any of you."

* * *

The sun burnt a dim orange against the horizon as the four of them trudged back to the bandits' cabin with enough raw meat for a feast of a hundred - considering the appetites of the people involved, there was a high likelihood that there would be a shortage by the end of the night. Shanks was back after all, and the three siblings... well.

When they reached the threshold, Luffy jumped off Shanks's shoulders and grabbed a large boar from the makeshift sled. She had caught this fellow on her own, and her short hair was still a veritable bird's nest from all the congratulatory hair-ruffling that had followed. The girl ran forward, tugging the lump of meat through the doorway to show it off to the bandits, her face more teeth and gums than anything else. There was a happy cry of, "Makino!" and familiar tinkling laughter.

Sabo sped up at the promise of Makino's excellent cooking, pausing briefly by the languidly strolling Shanks to give him a gap-toothed grin and exchange a fist bump before trotting into the cabin.

Ace shuffled behind Shanks at a considerably more reluctant pace, hesitance clear in the shuffle of heels against dirt. Finally, a hand shot out and grasped the fabric of Shanks's cloak. Feeling the tug of cloth against his shoulders, Shanks peered back at him in bemusement.

"What is it, Ace?"

Ace stubbornly glanced the other way. "Thanks," he grumbled under his breath. The boy shifted side to side in discomfort. "For saving Luffy and all. And for coming back."

Shanks just chuckled and tousled the boy's hair. Though Ace scowled, he made no move to shove the hand off.

* * *

Sprawled haphazardly on the warm wood floor with three children getting into a scuffle over a hunk of meat directly over his head, Shanks couldn't help but to enjoy himself as much as on any adventure. Laughter bubbled from his chest and reverberated heartily in the ruckus of the cabin, echoed by the sounds of merriment from the bandits and Makino and the three children themselves.

_This_ was home.

* * *

**AN**

For Sarah132cs: your promised present for 100th favourite... a month or so late… Apologies? :D?

For my readers in general: I AM ALIVE.

I posted this here instead of as an individual one-shot to tide the rest of you guys over too, since it's been a while since my last update. However, it isn't canon-compliant to Sol; this is just a standalone, meaning Shanks wasn't involved with Ace and Sabo as children in this story.

The next chapter is in-progress. Unfortunately it's been in progress for nearly two months.

If you have been checking on my profile you would see a few explanations (excuses) about this and that. I can't promise consistency in my stories, or even commitment, but I'll try to give you guys what I can.

Actually, I reread the earlier chapters (for the millionth time) and I'm still struck dumb wondering why and how you guys are reading this story, and _liking_ it. The One Piece style humour doesn't flow with my style of writing at all, and everything is a little awkwardly put together and - well, it could do with some improvement. So thank you so very much for actually enjoying my writing! (I suppose I really am my own worst critic.)

But if there's anyone amongst you who specialize in betaing, not for grammar or syntax but for cohesion of conversation and flow of narration and making humour actually funny, complicated stuff like that (also, in kicking my ass into gear and acting as a sounding board haha), if you're interested in helping please PM. ;-;


	13. Sight Beyond Eyes

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Twelve: Sight Beyond Eyes**

* * *

"Curly brow chef, join my pirate crew!"

"I apologize, my lady," Sanji said, after a shocked pause. _Her _pirate crew? This little dove was a pirate captain? He was both surprised and not at all - he wasn't unfamiliar with strongly independent women, after all. It suited her. "Though I am honoured by your request, it pains me to say that I cannot."

"And why is that?" a familiar voice asked. "If it's because of me, then forget it. This is a good chance. Just go and be a pirate. We don't want you and your shit food here anyway."

Sanji fluidly rose to his feet and flicked the ashes from the end of his cigarette in one wide, sweeping arc, allowing his arm to drop to his side with the still burning stick held loosely between fingers. No need to waste another cigarette by crushing it between his teeth.

The blond turned to meet Zeff's aloof eyes with a measured gaze of his own, carefully erased of any real emotion. "Shut up, old hag."

Stronger words bubbled hot and angry against his teeth but he allowed himself a slow, barely shuddering breath and reigned in his temper. He didn't want to fight, didn't want to be cut down by Zeff's biting words, not today, not in front of a crowd. Not in front of this crowd.

Sharp, searching eyes dragged over his steely countenance and snagged on the vulnerabilities, an act borne easy from years of familiarity. "You dare refer to me so rudely, you little piece of crap?!"

_Bullshit_, he thought. The pair had called each other so much worse over less in the past; what was she trying to do? "So what, shitty geezer," he said instead, eyes narrowing. "What're you going to do about it?"

No other words were exchanged as Sanji found himself slammed into the table behind him, solid set wood crumbling like thin caramel art under the force. He shot to his feet in an instant, winded, but not so much that he could not retaliate. Except that something silver was blazing its way to Zeff's turned back. His eyes widened when he realized a steak knife had been thrown up by a plank of broken wood, narrowing in on the back of her exposed neck.

"No - !" If that knife entered the space between the vertebrae of her spine, it could render Zeff's entire body paralyzed; forget repaying Zeff for her leg, he might as well just dive into the ocean before the misfortune that clung to him like a second skin ended up outright killing her.

_...or perhaps death would be merciful compared to such a fate, to such a woman._

Sanji kicked forward with an outstretched hand, blunt nails desperately scratching at the air for purchase -

but a slimmer hand had already wrapped its fingers around the handle of the treacherous knife in a tight fist -

Wide blue and brown met for a fleeting, eternal moment.

Then a flying table smashed into Zeff's - no, not just Zeff's, all of theirs, all of Baratie's - saviour and Sanji saw red. Worn, rough woven cloth obstructed his vision as the girl barreled backwards into him, and he could only be relieved that at least his body was there to cushion the fall. He grunted as his back collided with the stone chimney, but the girl was already bouncing to her feet and facing a large figure standing in front of the restrooms, knife dropped harmlessly to the side.

Her hand was bleeding, he realized, a slow, sluggish dripping, and the swordsman who had been seated to her right was beginning to rise to his feet with a dangerous scowl distorting his brows. The other two she had been with - the lady and the long nose - had adopted hostile expressions as well, stirring restlessly in their chairs.

_Ah_, thought Sanji. If she was a captain, then this must be her crew.

* * *

A frown tugging down the corners of her mouth, Luffy noted the raising hackles of her nakama in the corner of her eye. It hadn't hurt, of course. The knife had slipped a little and cut her, but that was something easily ignored, and the table hadn't even left a bruise - couldn't, given who she was. Zoro looked about ready to spill blood though, and that wasn't good; this was Sanji's family. If any of the Baratie cooks were hurt as badly as Zoro was capable of, he would never join them. And if she told her first mate to stand down, if she kept her crew from retaliating at all, the resentment would keep them from properly accepting Sanji as nakama at the get go.

And so she came to an easy solution.

"What the heck was that for," she yelled, grabbing another table and throwing it right back at her attacker. She threw herself behind it and when the other man inevitably smashed the projectile with a swing of his thick forearm, he was met with a fist to his face. It was a careless swing, with none of the vehemence that she would have used against a real enemy, but it met Patty's jaw with a noisy _thwack_. With a great scowl he snatched her out of the air by her shoulders and threw her into the nearest surface. She flew through a stool and through the bar itself, rolling heels over head into a large group of cowering waiters who shrieked and fell over like bowling pins.

She ignored them and tossed a stretchy leg through the cloud of wreckage, sweeping her foot towards Patty's direction and dealing a hard strike to his shins. There was a shout as he toppled over; she used the parts of the bar that were still intact to leapfrog forward and landed with all her weight onto the larger man's head, driving his face into the wood of the deck with her feet and inciting a large grunt of pain.

Facing the rest of her nakama as the dust cleared, she plopped down onto the man's broad back and grinned a great big grin, throwing out her hand in a cheerful victory sign. Nami was rolling her eyes, a smile playing around her lips, Usopp was giving her a victory sign right back, and Zoro was giving her an exasperated smirk, all swords firmly tucked back into their sheaths. The woman who had argued with Sanji was leaning back onto a wall with her arms crossed, her eyes shrewd and evaluative. Sanji himself had stood back up and was leaning against the stone chimney, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips, his arms crossed in unconscious mirror of the woman.

Patty jumped to his feet, throwing her off with a roar. He cradled the back of his head with a hand and pointed an incriminatory finger at her. "You damn little sea urchin! How dare you attack Owner Zeff - "

"That's it," someone snapped from the direction of the damaged bar. Everyone in the restaurant turned to see Steve scraping into a standing position, a harsh scowl on his face. He undid his waist apron, balled it up, and threw it to the ground. "I'm not staying in this insane place for a second longer! I quit!"

He strode to the main doors of the Baratie and stomped out, slamming them shut behind him.

"M-me too!" a brunet waiter wailed, dropping his apron to the floor.

"Me as well!" Another scrap of white cloth went flying over a shoulder.

One by one the waiters of Baratie began to quit their jobs, each stomping out after the other until not a single waiter remained in the entire establishment. The customers watched their servers go with varying degrees of shock and amusement and irritation plastered on their faces.

"Huh," Luffy said, after a long moment of silence. "That's bad right?"

"This is all your fault, you sea urchin!" Patty shouted at her, spittle accompanying his words. Luffy scowled and wiped off her cheek with the back of her hand.

"It's _your_ fault you dumbass," someone else snapped, smacking Patty across the back of his head from behind. "You've been yelling at the waiters all month. And you picked a fight with this poor young lady for no reason, don't go blaming her for something that _you_ caused."

"Quit your jabbering, idiots," an authoritative voice snapped. The lady from earlier clunked her way over to the trio, and Luffy's eyes flew downwards, properly noticing the older woman's wooden leg for the first time that day. "Or I'll make you clean this entire mess on your hands and knees."

Luffy blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.

_Wait a second…_

"Yes Owner Zeff," said Patty, immediately standing down.

"Che," Sanji replied, turning away with a scowl.

This… this was Zeff? How was this Zeff? Zeff was a man. Zeff was supposed to be a man. Right?

_But I'm a girl_, she thought. And apparently, Nojiko wasn't. And Zoro, he… maybe that meant Kuina…? Then what did that say about Tashigi?

Eyes nearly twirling with confusion, Luffy registered someone speaking to her when a finger flicked her forehead. She smacked a hand over the spot. "Ow," she said reflexively, though it didn't really hurt.

"Brat, did you hear a word I said?"

"Nope," the noirette replied. She returned the woman's exasperated squinty-eyed look with a cheery grin.

The woman - Zeff - twitched a brow in irritation. "I said, pay your bill. And for the damages. And get me new waiters."

"Oi, owner, this girl - " Sanji began, but a glare from both women shut him up.

"I can do the first one, and help clean, and I'll pay for that one table that _I_ threw," Luffy said. "But that's all, 'baa-san."

"Who're you calling old, you little piece of shit!" Zeff snapped, pecking the girl on the top of her head with the end of her long white chef's hat. Luffy puffed her cheeks out in reply. The ex-pirate captain ignored it, expelling an annoyed breath and continuing, "It's not up for negotiation. Pay for the damages."

Luffy crossed her arms too. "No," she said, her jaw set stubbornly. "He's the one who attacked me, make him do it."

"You terrorized the waiters too. Take responsibility for it, brat."

"I can't get you waiters," the girl began, brows slanted, lips pouting. But then she read the twist of Zeff's mouth and finally got it. "But... I guess I could work for you until you find new ones. If I get free meals."

"Fine. You'll be working here two months."

"Nope. One week."

"I said two months, brat," Zeff said, brow twitching again. She bent her head forward to glare the shorter girl straight in the eye.

"I'm _not_ waiting two months to set off on my adventure again," Luffy protested, lips downturned petulantly. She stared stubbornly back at the cook, back straight and proud. "One week is enough!"

"You try to leave before two months are up, we'll see if you still have two legs."

"Just try and stop me, 'baa-san." Luffy grinned sharply, chin quirked in challenge.

There was violent sort of stillness in the air as both intractable women attempted to wear each other down.

The silence was broken when Zeff smirked and threw a scrap of white over Luffy's head. "Get cleaning, straw-hat kid. Ask your little friends for help, whatever. I don't care. Patty! Back in the kitchen! You tryna put me out of business?" As Patty limped away, she began to clunk her way back to the kitchen as well, but paused in front of Sanji. "And you, eggplant. Grab a broom. You're on cleaning duty with the little girl. And get her a uniform while you're at it. Don't step a foot in the kitchen until everything is clean."

Luffy watched as Sanji's jaw worked furiously, the veins in his neck prominent with strain. His hands clenched and opened and clenched again.

But then he suddenly took a breath and relaxed. Uncurled his fists. Gave Zeff a crisp nod and strode away to the washrooms.

The older woman stared after him for a moment before leaving, her dark eyes inscrutable.

* * *

"Guysss," Luffy whined. "Help me out here." There was a pile of debris stacked up haphazardly against the wall, made with the image of a whale in mind; a stool leg jutted out proudly from the misshapen monument, evidence of Luffy's efficient work in the past 5 minutes.

Sanji had been banned from the kitchen because of her, and she didn't want that to last any longer than necessary. _Her_ chef made the best food, after all. (And besides, making food for others was Sanji's lifeblood, it stood at the core of everything he was, and to deprive him of that was so... wrong. It was just so very, very wrong.)

"Nah," Zoro said, leaning back in his seat and throwing back a cup of sake. He dropped the emptied porcelain back onto the table, eyes devilish as he hooked his elbows over the back of his chair. "I think I'm good here."

"Is it an octopus? A monkey?... Crocodile?" Usopp was staring at her creation with an expression of deep concentration, his head turned to the side.

Beside him, Nami rolled her eyes again. "It's clearly a giraffe." Luffy crinkled her nose at the both of them. It was a whale! A whale! "More importantly, Luffy, are we really staying here for a week?"

"Ah!" Luffy exclaimed, glancing up from the remnants of a shattered bottle of wine. "That's right. Nami, are you okay with that?"

The clinking of silverware on china faded into the white noise of the other patrons as Usopp turned his eyes back to the trio. Why would they have issue with a mere week-long delay? No, he could think of a few reasons. More specifically, why Nami in particular?

"This close to Cocoyashi... I'm sure you're feeling impatient, right?"

"Well," Nami began, looking down at her splayed hands and then back up at Luffy. "If we need to wait, I don't really mind it. It can't be helped, after all."

"Nami can take Merry first and go to see your precious people, if you want," Luffy offered. She beamed at her navigator, who looked to be hesitantly warming to the idea. "Or everyone can go with her. I don't mind. I can catch up later."

"But," began Nami, ever the prudent one, "Do any of you even know how to get to Cocoyashi?"

"The wind will blow me in the right direction," Luffy chirped.

Zoro grunted. "I'd find it somehow."

"My team of fifty thousand skilled navigators will take me there!" Usopp crooned.

"That's what I thought," Nami sighed. But then she laughed and shook her head. "I think I'll be able to handle a bit more wait."

Usopp was frowning though. "Luffy, why didn't you just tell the chef lady that it was a misunderstanding? You saved her life! Surely she'd let you off for that, and maybe waive your entire bill too."

_She already knows_, Luffy thought, remembering the older woman's sharp eyes. There was no way she didn't. But still, it was true what Zeff had told her.

"I made a mess too, so I should take responsibility."

"But it was self-defense! In fact, they should be compensating you, you know, instead of putting you in debt!"

Nami rolled her eyes. "Mou, Usopp, just give it up. Luffy's just too honest for her own good."

Luffy shifted a little in discomfort and something in her gut twisted cruelly because, no, no she really wasn't, and she wished Nami hadn't said that, and that Zoro wouldn't nod along.

Sanji's sudden interruption was a more than welcome interruption from the guilt roiling in her belly.

"Mademoiselle, your temporary uniform," the blond announced, striding into the room and presenting a bundle of cloth with a flourish and a flirty little grin. "If you would do this humble restaurant the gift of wearing its symbol, there would be no greater elation to be known by us meagre cooks. My heart is already in anxious suspense for what is sure to be a beauteous sight!"

Luffy laughed again at Sanji's cheesily embellished words. Here was a guy who didn't mind being the butt of a joke if it made the other happier. It was terrible abuse of his admittedly great grasp of language, and the twinkle in his eye told her he more than knew it.

Even though they had only really met a little while ago, Luffy was beginning to get a grasp of Sanji as a person, a human being, and she was so, so, relieved to realise that she liked who he was. She liked him.

Zeff had given her a scare. If Sanji's mentor was a woman, then Sanji's basest values became... what, exactly? Not the same, of course, he could not maintain the same approach to life as the character she had known; she could see without doubt that Zeff was a predator through and through, and such a weakness would have had her cook chewed up and spat out in ragged pieces. But he was whole and (more than) alive, standing before her with a smile and all eccentricities seemingly intact.

So what had changed between Sanji, the character, and Sanji, the man standing before her? Everything, maybe. Or nothing. Perhaps both.

She supposed she could only really wait for him to show her.

* * *

Eleven year old Sanji staggered to his feet, everything in him reeling from violent impact against a wall. The world swayed dangerously before his eyes.

"Your insistence on chivalry is honorable and all, but if you keep holding back, I really will kill you," Zeff told him casually, buffing her nails on her shirt. "There is nothing you can do that will hurt me in the least. In fact, I'll make it easier for you - don't think of me as a woman. Think of me... as a monster. Because I assure you, I am every single one of your nightmares and worse." Dark eyes pierced Sanji through; he felt like an insignificant bug floating in a shitty bowl of second-rate soup.

His hands curled into fists and he ran at her again, leg rising in a roundhouse kick. The pig-tailed woman knocked him over with a wooden peg to the forehead.

"Better. But not good enough. Until you are able to attack me at your full strength, meagre though it is, I won't let you step foot in a kitchen, won't let you cook a single damn thing. In fact," she said, eyeing him coldly. "I might as well cut off your hands now, if you're going to be this stubborn. You won't be needing them, after all."

Sanji's eyes widened and he saw red. He _roared_, throwing himself at her without regard to anything but the fright that she might actually - and the sheer anger coursing in his veins that the old hag would dare to even _suggest _\- !

She met his kick with her own and a wisp of a grin. "That's the spirit," she said, before proceeding to pummel him into the ground.

* * *

Sanji watched as the little raven took her new clothes and bounced off to the restrooms with a grin.

How impossible a girl, to meet his mentor toe to toe like that. It nearly made him want to consider her offer.

He'd watched pirates twice her height and many times her breadth falter when faced with Red-Leg Zeff. It was the reason he'd long dismissed the notion of ever pledging himself under another name - because how could a man conditioned against earth shattering tsunamis be moved by a mere gust of wind? His pride would not be able to stand it. Her, though... maybe... she could almost...

But if almosts and nearlies made reality, the world would be a far different place.

(He'd be dead, for one. As would Zeff.)

The thought sent a shiver down his spine, so he shunted it aside and got to work speedily sweeping glass shards and other debris into a dust pan. The lady captain had been busy at work during the brief time he had been out of sight; all the larger bits of collateral damage had been gathered in a tight pile against a wall, which significantly eased Sanji's work.

Large pieces of wood were stacked in a separate pile for tinder, and everything that could not be salvaged was categorized as trash and bundled in large black bags. He cleared up the remainder of the mess with the ease of practice - in a matter of moments, the deck was entirely cleared of evidence from the brief battle.

Never let it be said that Sanji would stand idly once kicked out of the kitchen. Nothing motivated him quite as well as that, which was probably why Zeff kept using it against him. That vicious old hag. There should be a limit to low blows, ex-pirate captain or not.

"Oi, cook-san," he heard. He turned to see the long nose motioning at him. He considered getting ticked off by the scrawny boy's patronizing hand waves, but decided the kid was really too scrawny to get into any sort of fight with. Though he _was _irritating. "You saw what really happened, right? If you're the sous-chef, can't you talk to the owner about this? It's unfair for Luffy to have to work off a debt she shouldn't owe!"

"Usopp, you're still on that?" the beautiful maiden beside him sighed. "Luffy says it was fine, didn't she? Besides, it's only for a week."

"But you heard that scary old lady," Usopp protested. "If Luffy tries to leave before two months, she'll lose her leg!"

"As if she'll let that happen," the swordsman cut in. To Sanji's ears, it sounded more like 'As if _I'll_ let that happen'.

"When Luffy wants to leave, she'll leave," the lady added, rolling her eyes. "Out of sheer stubbornness, if nothing else."

Either these pirates had a great deal of faith in her captain, or they were severely underestimating Zeff - a very unwise decision.

Regardless, none of his business. If the beautiful lady with the oranges tresses was in danger, he'd likely interfere, but her captain on the other hand… It was clear to him that she had the constitution of a beast of prey, just as Zeff did. It would be an insult and a half for him to involve himself, uninvited, into a battle of pride; he knew better than to intrude upon the clashing of two predators. In such things, gender mattered none. That had been the first thing the old hag had beaten into him.

The long nose's voice pulled Sanji out of his thoughts. "But still, can't you at least talk to her?"

"Che," Sanji responded with a curled lip. He gestured at the recently cleared floor with a sweep of a hand. "Does it look like she'd listen to me?"

"To be sure, it's weird that the second in command is being made to clean," the lady commented, staring at him with sharp, curious eyes. "If you didn't do anything wrong, why are you being punished?"

He neatly sidestepped her query with a bombastic, "Sa, that's a mystery, isn't it? But my lady, as apology for your interrupted meal, I shall bring you a complimentary dessert. If it would so please you to wait a few moments, I'll return with a treat almost as delightful as your presence!" Sanji swept into a low bow and retreated into the kitchen without waiting for her response. She was beautiful and clever, and he deeply appreciated both traits, but the deck was clean and that was perhaps a bit more personal than he was comfortable sharing.

* * *

**AN**

Here it is, my wonderful darling patient readers! The next chapter! Thank you for waiting so much. I hope you like, and that no one is particularly out of character. Or, in Sanji's case, out of character in a way that is stretching the limits of what a slightly changed past could do.

So, yeah. Zeff being a woman was very important for Sanji's character development. Sanji is stronger because his mentor is more vicious to him (and also because she herself is stronger), but more than that, I just can't have his gallant tendencies clash with Luffy's fights.

There's a story pairing poll on my profile! Super important! (Hahahahahaha make sure you use all 10 ;)

By the way, I guess I forgot to mention this but I have another fem!Luffy fic up called _Solstice_. It's set in the Sol universe (i.e. this one) and it's an AU of the Alabasta arc. Main pairing is (very M rated) Crocodile x femLuffy, and mentions of side pairings ZoLu, SanLu and AceLu, since it's set in the same universe as this story and all. The Alabasta arc I have planned for Invictus is very, very different to what happens in Solstice though, fortunately for our hero.

I've also started a fic called _Through Treacherous Waters_, a One Piece and Naruto crossover with all the OP cast and only a few Naruto characters. No femLuffy, and the main character is Haruno Sakura. Involves the Strawhats in high school (minus Robin, Franky, Brook). Lots and lots and lots of university student Law. Also lots of Rob Lucci, Smoker, Killer, Kid, and later, Doffy. Set in a modern world, with nefarious plots and a thriving criminal underworld that Sakura eventually discovers. That is, if I manage to continue up to there, ahahaha...

Please review, I have another midterm on wednesday and I need a bit of a pick me up. ;-;


	14. Calculations, Calculations

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Thirteen: Calculations, Calculations**

* * *

"Twenty-five hundred, plus five thousand, plus thirty-one hundred," Patty listed as he tapped away at the large, clunky device in his hands.

"Ten thousand six hundred," the new chore girl chimed from where she was mopping nearby. He ignored the little sea urchin. It was enough that he was - barely - tolerating her presence, no need to interact with the damn girl.

But according to the faded block numbers of the screen... "Ten thousand, six hundred beli," he repeated, jotting it down on the page.

Patty narrowed his eyes at the page. It was a fluke. It must have been a lucky guess. The girl had proved herself to be a certified idiot, no way she'd calculated that in her head, and faster than the calculator at that.

Grabbing another bill, he read, "Nineteen hundred times three, plus fifty-five fifty, plus fourteen hundred." His fingers had barely pressed the number '9' when the girl spoke up.

"Twenty five thousand six hundred and fifty."

His head shot up. Was she using a calculator too? But no, the sea urchin was barely even paying attention to him, instead struggling with a foot stuck in the mop bucket and fixing the spilled soap water with puffed cheeks and a petulant scowl.

Patty checked the device in his hand, and indeed, "Twenty five thousand, six hundred and fifty beli."

_What the -_

Once more, he decided, watching the urchin hawkishly.

"Three thousand eight hundred forty, plus two thousand ninety-five, plus five thousand seven hundred fifty," he said, eyes trained on the girl so studiously that he barely even looked down at the bill.

"Eleven thousand six hundred eighty-five," she responded absently-mindedly, and she really wasn't even paying attention to her surroundings. It was more like an automatic reaction than any conscious mental calculation.

Patty glanced down at the calculator and pressed in the numbers -_ 11 685_, it said.

Well then.

"Oi chore girl," he snapped, flapping a sheath of papers at her. The girl glanced up from her struggles, her knee still lifted in the air. The bucket fell off her foot with a wet _fwrop_ and clattered onto the deck, luckily still upright.

"What d'you want _now_, Popeye-bastard," she whined back, with an outstretched tongue. He actually had no clue what that meant, but the damn brat had taken to calling him the name, and it was safe to assume from her tone that it was an insult.

"Shut up and c'mhere you little sea urchin," he shot back, almost tempted to stick his tongue out as well. He scowled and mentally smacked himself for even considering falling to her level. He was a full grown man and she was a little brat, barely even old enough to drink. (And she hadn't beaten him yesterday, of course not, she'd just... taken him by surprise was all.)

She _che_'d but padded her way over to him nonetheless, mop abandoned haphazardly onto the floor.

"Kid, you're gonna take care of the till," he told her, and he explained exactly what she was supposed to do. It was simple, really; calculate and write down the bill totals the moment she got them, set them on the little black trays, bring the bill over when the customer called her, wait for them to hand over the money, bring back the change and receipt, and take away the tip, if there was any. And always, always smile.

Each bill was labeled with the table number, he made sure to tell her, so there was no excuse for mixing up the bills. If any of the money went missing, she sure as hell could be sure Zeff would saw her leg off as recompense.

Patty returned to the kitchen with a worried scowl when the girl insisted she could do it, Popeye-bastard, of course she could. Trusting the brat with the money made him anxious, but what could he do when he had to return to his cooking? The bills had hard evidence to record what had been lost, but the tips... Well, a few lost beli here and there was a sacrifice that had to be made for perfectly baked mackerel and unburnt oyster sauce.

* * *

"Hey, can we get the bill over here?" a customer called, raising an arm high. Luffy grabbed the little black tray for table 9 and bounced over to the group, her new black skirt and attached apron fluttering in the breeze generated by her sheer enthusiasm.

"Here you go," she told them cheerfully, giving the collection of businessmen a wide wide grin and dropping the tray on the table. To her disapproval, there was still a fair amount of food on the plates; she pouted and stared enviously at the leftover salad. Man, she was hungry just from looking at it. "You aren't gonna eat all that?"

The man sitting nearest Luffy playfully waved a stick of celery in the air and chuckled when her eyes trailed after it. He offered it to her. "Do you want it?"

"Do I?" Luffy exclaimed, as she eagerly stretched her neck forward and chomped at it without warning.

The vegetable disappeared so quickly that the entire table was left gaping in shock. They stared at the empty space where the celery used to be.

Ever so eloquently, one of the men said, "Uh."

Another customer experimentally speared a piece of chicken on a fork and hesitantly extended his arm towards her. A blink later, and it disappeared as well.

"What the - "

This process was repeated with two strips of bacon, a cabbage wrap, three spring rolls, and the entire contents of a salad bowl as other customers slowly but surely began to notice and join in on the newest Baratie attraction. The dishes being offered gradually grew from a single piece of lettuce to a whole lobster and a full pot of stew as people tried to puzzle out how quickly Luffy could eat, how she was doing this in the first place, and how, exactly, a skinny little girl of her size was packing away so much food without so much as a fuller stomach. Bets were placed. Arguments ensued. Laughter bubbled.

More and more food was ordered, and those who left the restaurant did so with bigger and bigger incredulous grins, while leaving fuller and fuller tips. When the ferry bus that would ship home a number of customers back to their islands finally arrived, it was with reluctance that they parted from the curiosity of this cute little phenomenon, leaving in their wake a sizable pile of cash laying on various tables.

Nami watched with shrewd eyes as Luffy happily rung up bills and was fed delicious foods for the entertainment of wide eyed customers. Baratie was, without a doubt, profiting off of the younger girl. Perhaps even enough to...

In her head, the navigator calculated the average rate of tips earned by the waiters of Baratie from what she'd observed yesterday, and juxtaposed that to the steadily growing pile of coins and bills stacking on the counter of the register. The little basket that had been set for tips was overflowing, and the little captain had had to pile them onto one of the serving trays instead.

Nami's eyes easily identified each of the different currency values and her internal calculator came to a total value of around 105,850 beli.

On top of the base profit of 10,000 beli an hour that any normal waiter would have earned the restaurant - how long had Luffy been working? She had been at it for a while, perhaps three hours, and her enthusiasm had yet to falter - was an extra 76,000 beli, not counting the profit to be earned within the next several hours or the increased quantity of dishes sold. That was a little more than enough to settle the supposed debt Luffy owed to Baratie, as well as the bill from yesterday that actually hadn't been paid yet. That large brute of a chef had refused to allow the noirette to return to the Merry and get the money, citing that pirates could not be trusted (and of course Luffy had been quite affronted at that, though Nami privately agreed that this assessment would have been true for nearly any other pirate). The issue of lost waiters still wouldn't be solved, but she would at least be saved from separating with several ten thousand beli.

Well. It wouldn't be _her_ money, but she really didn't mind doing Luffy a favour.

So when the Owner finally exited the kitchen, Nami caught the older woman's eye, tilted her head invitingly, and smiled, the glint of gold dancing in her eyes.

* * *

Luffy turned when a large hand grabbed her wrist. Brisk and authoritative, like the steady, thumping cadence of a stamp against thick stacks of paper, a voice asked, "How much for a night?"

The noirette cocked her head with her brow scrunched in confusion. "What?"

Her captor was a clean shaven man with auburn hair coiffed and slicked back, a squared jaw and an arrogantly curved smile. Even under his tailored suit, the shifting of his muscles was apparent - this was a guy who was used to power, to authority.

He gave an annoyed sigh, gray eyes narrowed at her. "I said, how much for a night."

"Are you stupid?" she asked sincerely, still confused. "You can't eat the night."

Her arm began to reveal its rubbery composition as it was squeezed harshly. "What did you just say to me?" the man snapped, suddenly enraged even though she hadn't been trying to make him angry.

The play of light along the edge of the restaurant revealed Zoro rising to his feet with both teeth and sword bared in a growl and then both Usopp and Nami scrambling to hold him back, even as they shot deadly looks at the asshole in front of her. Faint whispers of '_... can handle herself..._' and '..._don't, you'll just..._' and '_I fucking know, but…_' tickled her ears, audible only because it was _her _nakama, and she could pick out their voices from a crowd of thousands and thousands.

But Luffy scowled at the guy too. She didn't like him, not one bit.

"Let _go_."

Grey eyes tapered to slits as the man hissed, "Don't you know who I am?"

"Who cares," Luffy shot back, starting to get angry as well. "Let go, you bastard!"

"How _dare_ you - "

Another hand fell around the man's wrist in a vice hold. "The lady said to let go."

"Who are you?" the brunet spat, glaring up at cold blue eyes.

"Hands. Off."

For every moment longer that the man refused to do as he told, Sanji's grip on the other's wrist tightened, until tan turned white under his fingers, until skin visibly bowed inward and bones ground against each other.

With a furious cuss the man let go of Luffy's arm.

"Get out," Sanji said, his voice eerily calm.

The brunet rose to his feet with a sneer. "I'll have you know that you've lost yourself a very valuable customer."

"Do you need an escort?"

With a final harrumph, the man left, his mouth puckered like he'd eaten something sour. From the side, she saw Zoro become calm again, a strangely assessing look dawning in his eyes.

"I could've taken him," Luffy pouted, dissatisfied at having been 'saved'.

Sanji's eyes softened and he grinned at her. "Of course, madam. But then we'd have another broken table, wouldn't we?"

Her eyes brightened in realization. If she'd punched the guy like she'd been planning, she would've broken his chair, and the wall behind him, leading to Zeff trying to keep her here for longer. So actually, Sanji _had_ done her a favour.

She grinned wide at him. "You're right! Thanks!"

* * *

Luffy watched as Lieutenant Full-of-himself ate his meal without so much as a snide barb. He was bombastic, he was arrogant, he was an annoying showman and he had a face that kind-of made her want to deck him, but he had not yet insulted Baratie, nor had he complained about the service - though maybe that was because his server was not Sanji. In any case, this was not what she knew to expect from the man today. What a difference it had made, for Luffy and her nakama to have arrived here a day earlier.

"Lieutenant! It's an emergency!"

Or perhaps not so different after all, she thought, watching as a marine soldier was shot in the back, as Patty gave Gin a rough beating, as Sanji quietly slunk off to the kitchen with a single goal in mind.

* * *

The pirate captain stepped outside with a jug of water and a cup in her hands. Trying to sneak a customer's plate away had resulted in being chased off, and she herself couldn't cook anything that wasn't roasting raw meat over a fire - even if nothing exploded or broke or fell, she couldn't concentrate on the culinary process long enough to actually make anything. (Meat, however, was different in that it could just be hung over a fire pit and taken off when the smell was yummy enough that she automatically gravitated to it.)

That was okay though, since Sanji would be coming soon. But the guy kind of looked like a dried out squid - so in the meanwhile she'd keep him from shriveling up in the sun. Like a squid. Dried squid. Seasoned dried squid. Mmm...

Luffy wiped drool from the side of her mouth and dropped onto the deck beside the bloodied, desperate-faced Gin. She glanced at him, at the cup, and then at the pitcher, before discarding the cup and just handing over the entire pitcher, which he scrambled to take. The pirate began to gulp down the liquid with abandon; without an audience with whom to keep face, he was long past caring for appearances or pride.

"So, mister," Luffy began when Gin finally set the empty pitcher down. "What's your story?"

He turned to her with gaunt, tired eyes. "My name is Gin, and I work for the Krieg pirates."

Gin spoke as if this brief introduction should have meant more than it really did; had she been a normal East Blue citizen, perhaps it would have. But for Luffy, the Krieg Pirates signified only the coming of larger things, the addition of a beloved new nakama and a vicious yellow-eyed storm who would leave as suddenly as he came.

"I'm a pirate too," she told him cheerily. "My crew and I came here looking for someone to cook for us."

"I... see." Gin paused for a moment, as if chewing over her words. "And did you find yourself a good chef?"

"Better." Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted Sanji stepping out from behind the door with a bowl of fried rice in hand. When he spotted them, Sanji's steps stuttered, shock momentarily blowing his pupils wide before it faded away. "We found _him_."

She grinned at the blonde, feeling impossibly fond of this kind, kind almost-man as he crouched down in front of the bedraggled pirate beside her.

"Here," Sanji said, sliding forward the bowl of rice. "Have this."

Hope dawned bright on the creases of Gin's face, and he snatched the food up, cradling it to himself as if afraid Sanji would change his mind. Quickly, Gin turned away and began to shuttle the rice into his mouth.

"I don't want to be ashamed, but - this is the most delicious rice I have had in my whole life." A few salty tears dripped into the rapidly disappearing food, the rest finding a path down Gin's cheeks. "I should not be ashamed... I don't want to be ashamed, but - " A sob shook heavy, exhausted shoulders. "I didn't think I would survive!"

"It's really delicious, isn't it?" A smile grew on Sanji's lips like the blooming of a chrysanthemum, all raw and soft and uneven and the faintest undercurrent of something vulnerable ran deep in his breath - and it was so beautiful that he almost hurt to look at -

But then he caught her staring at him and the emotion receded away again, leaving behind a grin just as big but filled with something subtler, not as torn-open.

"Miss what are you doing here?" he asked, but she ignored him, because this was more important, far, far more important.

"Sanji," and he looked vaguely surprised that she knew his name, and of course, they actually hadn't introduced themselves, hadn't even shared names yet, had they? If she was anyone else, perhaps that would matter, but to her, such a trivial thing wasn't half enough to make her reconsider. "Join my crew."

He gave her a wry smile. "This again? I'm sorry my lady, but I really can't."

Luffy scowled. "I refuse your refusal."

"What?" Sanji raised a brow. "I do have a reason, you know."

"I know," she told him plainly. "It has to do with the 'baa-san right? She wants you to go, but you want to stay and help her."

He nodded hesitantly at her unexpected insight. "Well... if you understand, then - "

"I still want you to join me - "

Sanji twitched. "Miss, you..."

"- because you know, that 'baa-san really cares about you."

"What?" the blond asked, blindsided by her sudden non sequitur.

"She wants you to go because she wants you to be free, not because she doesn't want you around. Even _I_ can see that she hates to see you trapped."

Sanji's face did a strange thing as he was visibly caught by his need to be chivalrous and his own temper. "Miss, with all respect, you don't - you don't know anything. To Owner Zeff, I know I'm just..." His teeth ground together and he turned away in embarrassment from Gin, who was trying his best not to listen in, and the ever earnest Luffy. "Anyway, I can't leave until I've repaid her in full."

"You're not a burden, Sanji," Luffy said, because maybe it was intuition or maybe it was foreknowledge or maybe he was just easy to read, but it was too obvious what her cook had teetered on the edge of confessing. "You're Zeff's hope. You're everything she sees for the future. You're her legacy." Of everything that Zeff knew, everything that she _was_, both back when she had everything at her fingertips and in this present of just wanting to feed the hungry - because a human was more than just the skills that made them or the roles they filled, they were ideals, they were hopes and dreams and wishes upon stars, and all those little parts of Zeff had been bequeathed onto Sanji to carry in the interstices of his own soul; for him not to _see_ that was a tragedy all on its own.

He watched her with eyes that were at once hard and soft; they shone suspiciously bright in the sunlight. "Even if that were true," _if_, even _if_, and he truly believed she would tell him such a terrible, cruel lie, just because to believe would mean disappointment of the worst kind when Zeff proved otherwise, "That still changes nothing."

In other words, another stubborn refusal. But if bullheadedness was a game he wanted to play, then, well, two could play at that. And he _would_ lose.

The two matched eyes with an almost violent intensity, the solid unyielding mountain and the persistent drumming of the rain. Except wind and rain wore a mountain down - in this battle, who was the rain, and who was the mountain? So even as Gin interrupted them to inquire on her goals and extol the horrors of the Grand Line, even as she professed the destination of her dreams, the pirate captain never once took her eyes off Sanji's.

Because Luffy was the reigning champion of stubborn, and she refused to leave this place until her cook was by her side.

* * *

The noirette meandered between tables with a bill in hand and some sort of confection melting on her tongue. She quite admittedly wasn't sure why all these strangers were crowding her with yummy food and expectant looks, but as long as there was something going in her belly, she wasn't one to mind. But it was weird - they kept gasping whenever she snatched the food up like she would with her brothers and talked amongst themselves like they thought she would eventually say, 'nope, I'm full' and reject the food. Her! Reject food! It was like they'd never seen a rubber human, or something. Or even just someone with an appreciation for eating. She was sure it was perfectly normal; a lot of people were the same way, like Ace and Sabo and Gramps and Shanks.

"... after we heard what happened to Gosa Village. That Arlong is running wild again - we can't even dock there anymore."

This strain of conversation broke Luffy straight out of her reminiscence and made her stop in place.

"It's because the Conomi Islands are unclaimed, you know. When it comes to government owned lands, it's really a lottery that determines whether the head marine is a shithead or not."

"The system is flawed," another man bit out. "It's why I became a pirate in the first place, innit? Putting a whole island under the jurisdiction of one person, 'course the power's gonna go to their head. 'Head marine' my ass. More like 'head tyrant'. Really, the only hope those poor saps over there have is to scrounge up enough money to formally purchase the land - then the government'd be contract bound to get ridda the little rat and send someone proper to drive out any trash who decide to freeload. But even if they knew about these sorts of things, I doubt that'd ever happen, what with the whole head tax thing the fish has going."

"Captain," the first man said, looking awed. "Since when did you know so much about laws? I didn't even know about anything like that, and I've been looking!"

The man grunted and guzzled back another saucer of sake. "Used to be a marine captain back in the day, didn't I? 'Fore I realized how shit it all was."

As the rest of the table gushed over how cool their captain was, Luffy continued on her original path, mind roiling.

* * *

The next two days blurred together in a flurry of delicious food, the chiming of coins, and the noisy buzz that permeated most restaurants, punctuated only by her occasional attempts to recruit Sanji and her sniping banters with Patty. And, as ever, the sight of her nakama waiting ever-patiently for her release. Zeff had only come around to speak to her a few times, once to tell her that she didn't have to pay off her monetary debt, and once to inquire on her progress with convincing Sanji to leave.

It wasn't bad way to live, by any means, but she was getting increasingly antsy at the lack of adventure, of motion and movement and the rocking of her own ship on the waves of the wide open sea; she dearly missed that feeling of going somewhere, doing something, of being whomever she wanted and doing whatever she wished.

So maybe it was wrong of her, but Luffy couldn't help but to grin gleefully when she finally heard the cry,

"That's Don Krieg's pirate ship!"

* * *

**AN**

And so the stage is set.

It is I! Alive! And ohmygosh 340 followers what? What? IS THIS REALITY OR IS IT JUST FANTA-SEA

hahaha I made a pun... dammit it's only funny if you have the picture to go with it

Also Sanji is a stubborn shit. Like seriously, he is stubborn as fuck, though not as much as Luffy-bbyyy

Calculations, calculations, so what is our protagonist _really_ calculating? Because it certainly isn't bills. And how do you guys feel about the random math skill I threw in there? I literally don't even know how that happened, it wrote itself like that pls forgib meh ;-;

Everyone who favourited and followed, I luff chu lots! And everyone who reviewed... *cuddles*

Also, all of you give a huge thanks to lilyoftheval5 for helping me figure out how I want this next arc to go. Seriously, if it wasn't for her, you'd have had to wait even longer. And it's already been a _month_. So go shower her with love. ^^


	15. Price of Life

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Fourteen: Price of Life**

* * *

As the entirety of Baratie worked itself into a frenzied panic, Luffy trotted her way towards a table near the back, housing half of her crew. Usopp was still aboard ship working on the creation of a new 'star', a new type of ammunition to load into his ginga pachinko, but the other two were here with her to keep company. And of course, there was Sanji over there, tracking the steady, ominous approach of Krieg's ship with a musing sort of gaze.

"Guys," she said, tilting her head low. "We need to move Merry, right now."

Zoro raised a brow and shifted a keen eye out the nearest window. The pair of bounty hunters who had temporarily joined them were currently staring out of it with wide eyes, a little out of earshot. "To where?"

"Opposite the direction that galleon just came in, maybe a mile out. And you'll need to anchor there for a bit before coming back when it's safe for her again." Both her nakama shifted to stand, but she shook her head. "Mmm, only one of you needs to go. Nami, just you and Usopp should be fine, right?"

Nami nodded briskly and set out to where the ship was docked, while Zoro languidly fell back into his chair.

"You sure you trust the witch to return with the ship?" he asked half jokingly, sliding a ceramic cup of still-hot tea between his hands.

"I'll always trust Nami," she firmly told him. Her first mate shook his head and grinned to himself, as if saying, _of course_.

In any case, it was an intuitive choice to send the navigator to take care of such matters, not to mention Zoro's appalling lack of direction. But it was more than that too. Because perhaps Zoro would live this encounter and perhaps he would not, but either way Mihawk and Zoro needed to find each other, and this was something she couldn't - wouldn't - stop from happening.

Luffy didn't want Zoro to die, of course she didn't, but neither could she claim the right to deprive him of his first taste of _the top_, of this decisive meeting between the lonely king of the castle and the almost-man who had dedicated his life to usurping that throne in the stead of another. She'd seen the gleam of his eyes when the Greatest Swordsman's epithet had come up, knew without doubt that this time, he had allowed himself to be subject to her whims accompanied with a purpose and a singular hope.

And most importantly -

_The moment you interfere with my goal, I will have you cut open your own stomach in apology!_

\- she had too much to accomplish to be taking her own life at this juncture. Not that she knew whether stabbing herself in the stomach would actually kill her in this world, but it was the principal of the matter.

Leaving Zoro to the alarmed pleads of Johnny and Yosaku ("Let's _go_, aniki!"), Luffy wound through the scattered chairs and tables of patrons currently gathered along the sides of the room to find Sanji. She'd barely stepped beside him when a large, hulking figure appeared in the wide open doors of the restaurant.

"Excuse us," a deep, thundering voice rasped. "Could you give me some food and water? Money is no issue."

As patrons and cooks alike fell into confused murmurs and collectively inched as close as they dared, Sanji stood straighter, giving a cursory scan around the restaurant for prying eyes before his own landed warily on Luffy. The noirette merely grinned at him, angling her head towards the kitchen doors - and though his lips did not move, everything in Sanji's bearing gave her the salient feeling of being smiled at.

Her cook strode off to do as his duty dictated and she made her way forward once more, this time pushing her way to the front of the suddenly lively crowd with Patty's voice a loud beacon.

"Contact the marines now; there won't be a chance like this again. As if I'd give him food. All he's getting are handcuffs!"

Outbursts of agreement shuddered through the restaurant - and Luffy's thoughts were brought into herself.

In such a case as this, was anyone really in the wrong? It was human instinct to sympathize with the weak and downtrodden... but then what that other cook had just said was true, more than he even knew himself: if Krieg got fed, the lives of everyone here was endangered by the pirate's cruelty.

So could anyone really point fingers? He is in the wrong, she is in the right, did reality ever actually work like that?

And it really was a shameful sight to see, a pirate captain lowering his head to grovel even despite knowing that the disbelieving eyes of his first mate were on him. Being a captain meant you _couldn't_ allow yourself to be so stripped of pride, at least in the presence of your crew. Was Krieg in such a poor state that his mantle had become nothing? Or was this another another trick, a play on human emotions to try to gain sympathy? Because Luffy couldn't respect anyone who would abandon their pride as a captain so easily, so halfheartedly.

Well, it didn't really matter. They would get fed, Don Krieg and his crew, and then she would beat them up once they got vicious. Simple.

So Luffy casually nudged the Popeye lookalike to the side when she heard the distinctive tap-tap-tapping of Sanji's leather shoes on wooden deck. Patty's dark eyes flickered on her for a moment, scanning her as if attempting to read on her face the motives behind what was for all intents and purposes a pointless action, before lifting to narrow in on Sanji's nonchalant expression as the cook she had claimed her own sweeped in with sustenance in both hands.

"What do you think you're doing," Patty demanded, trying to push past her and reaching out an arm for Sanji's collar. Luffy brushed the shove off easily, instead reaching out to grab the man's shoulder before he could try to wind around her instead.

"Don't," Luffy said, shaking her head at Patty.

From a distance away she could hear Carnie crying, "Sanji take that rice back!"

"Brat, don't get in my way!" Patty snapped, bringing her attention back to him. "Don't you know who that man _is_?!"

She shrugged and Sanji merely gave his fellow cooks a _look_; this set both Patty and Carnie set on a tirade about the dangers of 'Foul Play' Krieg, ending with Carnie's, "Just let that worthless man die, for the peace of this world!"

A wisp of wind curled on the bare skin of her arms, and she pushed Patty to the side. The true reason she'd chosen to stand where she was came alight as Luffy met Krieg's wildly swung bicep with an unwavering hand.

With a feral grin, she asked, "So this means you're done eating, right?"

Don Krieg narrowed his eyes and bore down on her with greater force, attempting but ultimately failing to make her budge. To the wide eyed audience it would seem almost as if Luffy's hand merely rested against the iron band of Krieg's armor, had it not been for the strain apparent in his muscles or the forward shift of her spine.

"You promised you wouldn't hurt anyone!" Gin cried from beside the other captain. "These are the people who saved my life!"

Krieg gave her an assessing gaze, before reaching out and grabbing Gin harshly by the shoulder.

"ARGH!"

"_Gin_!"

"I feel great, and I haven't lost my strength," Krieg mused, still scrutinizing her as his first mate crumpled to the ground. "So who are you?"

Luffy scowled back, incensed at this callous treatment of the man's own nakama. "You bastard, how could you just..."

"Hmm." Another appraising glance and she could see clear as day the moment he dismissed her as irrelevant, instead running his eyes over the rest of the ship's interior. A thrum of irritation shot through her veins - but it was immediately tempered by the conviction that his defeat later on _would_ come from her fists. That was something she didn't doubt for a moment. "This is a very good restaurant. I'll take it."

"I see how it is now."

Both of the pirate captains' gazes canted to the side to see Sanji flicking out another cigarette, movements casual but sleety eyes pinpricks against the shadows caressing the angles of his face.

"Don Krieg. In such a large galleon there must be more of your crew. You are not the kind to put their needs over your own; if the state of the captain was such, then the state of your men must be even worse. How many need feeding?"

"One hundred crewmen," spoke the Pirate Fleet Admiral. "All of them injured and starving. Give me food enough for my subordinates and then get off this ship. I would have it for my own."

"... Here is what I'll do," Sanji said, hair shading his eyes and voice low, menacing. "I will give you the food and let you feed your men. And then..." He raised his head, eyes too blue and too sharp. "I will escort you off this ship. By force, if need be."

"Is that a challenge, scrawny chef?" A smirk stretched the large pirate's mouth. "We will see."

Alarmed by the Pirate Fleet Admiral's declaration of taking Baratie, the terrified customers scrambled out to their ships, their ferries and shuttles and cruise boats. The cooks, on the other hand, were incensed and not too afraid to show it, storming in front of Sanji and creating a circular wall between her chef and his destination.

One by one, the chefs pulled out their pistols and trained them at Sanji's head.

"Sanji, what the hell do you think you're doing? You're going to feed them, just so they can take Baratie? Do you really think you can handle a hundred pirates, on top of Don Krieg? We _won't_ let you into the kitchen - so stop doing such foolish things!"

Luffy twitched and made to go help her cook, but then stopped herself. They wouldn't shoot him. She knew it already, if not from her foreknowledge, then from the lack of true hostility in the eyes of any of the other chefs. They didn't really want to hurt him, only wanted him to stop acting the idiot they thought he was. And Don Krieg was far too much of a sneaky bastard for her to take her gaze off him for any extended period. Besides, she wanted to see, to know -

"What are you waiting for?" Her chef taunted, spreading his arms wide with a smile like a knife's edge. "If you want to stop me, shoot me. I know I might lose - I know it's probable, even. But I just don't care right now. When I give food to hungry people, I don't want to think about the consequences." Sanji's brows crumpled into a scowl, and his humourless smile pulled down with it. "For a chef, if there is someone asking for food, then he must cook for them. This is the ideal I will always believe in. What's wrong with that?"

Luffy squeezed her eyes shut and grinned and grinned. Sanji would never be able to fathom how happy he had made her just by this, by the conviction smoldering in his eyes, threatening to burst into a wild, swirling conflagration if properly provoked. Just - she was glad. She really was.

Then Patty came in from behind and smashed Sanji harshly across the head, making the younger man stumble forward and disorienting him enough to be grabbed on all sides. Sanji stood limply in the hands of his fellow cooks, bright eyes angry, and she watched as Patty managed to unload a few misgivings he'd been harboring against the blond before pulling out a lobster shaped bazooka.

"After the meal," Popeye-bastard roared, hefting the weapon onto a shoulder and turning to Krieg, "Why don't you have some of this iron dessert? Indigestion meatball cannon!"

"Son of a - "

The cannon ball crashed into Don Krieg, sending him flying through the open doorway and smashing the man against the far railing of the deck. The impact triggered explosion blew one of the doors off a hinge; it swung inward and crashed into the adjacent wall with a loud thunk.

"_Don_!" cried Gin, tears still swollen in the corners of his eyes.

"Owner will have my head for that," Patty mourned, staring at the broken entrance.

Carnie reassured him with a, "It's fine, just collateral damage from protecting the restaurant," but Luffy was no longer paying attention.

A hulking figure rose from the singed stretch of wood where the other pirate had crash landed, smoke still spiraling from his body. "That's the best dessert you got, you lousy cook?"

Shocked gazes turned to Don Krieg as someone breathed, "It can't be...!"

"Serving that pile of crap for dessert... This is the worst restaurant I've ever been to," the man seethed, stalking forward with a dark look on his face. Except Luffy was still standing in his path, and she had no intention of going anywhere.

Reading the pull of his shoulders, the shift of his armor, Luffy extended an arm and caught the sweeping backhand that would have smashed into her cheek, steadily meeting the glower being directed at her.

"Get out of my way, _little girl_."

"But I don't want to," she replied, gracing him with a rather dull look. "And if I don't wanna, why should I? That's just dumb."

Something resembling a spasm overtook Krieg's left eye.

"I am the man who will find One Piece and become King of Pirates!" he snarled. "I have 50 fleet ships at my disposal and over five thousand men! With my powerful body and hidden weaponry, I am the strongest man! You _will_ listen to me if I give you an order!"

"You don't need to shout, I'm right here," Luffy deadpanned. "And besides, you got something really wrong there. _I'm_ gonna find One Piece and be the Pirate King, not you."

"Do you think this is a game, to say such things? I'll allow you to take back your words so stand aside."

"Who's joking?" she replied seriously. Her hand dropped loosely to her side. "I only spoke the truth. When I say I'm going to be Pirate King, it's because _I'm going to be Pirate King_."

Krieg narrowed his eyes at her and seemed to withdraw the slightest bit. Rather than anger, it was scorn that he met her with next. "As naïve as you are young," he spat. "A welp like you, what could you possibly know of the difficulties of this path? Ignorance will get you killed, chit; even my 5000 men were destroyed in Grand Line in just a week, all because I lacked information!"

Shock echoed through the ship and coalesced into furtive whispers of, "It can't be!" and "Even Don Krieg - " and "_Five thousand _men!" But no, that was not what she was listening for. Neither was the loud barking of the man standing too close for comfort, nor the distant _shick_ of steel on scabbard, nor the rasping breaths of tobacco from a man gripping tightly onto the reins of his temper.

Rather, it was the approaching clunk of wood on wood, the heavy drag of cloth sack across rough deck, that she welcomed with quirked lips.

* * *

"Owner Zeff?!"

A bag her height wide and nearly as tall landed at her side. "Food for a hundred. Take it and get out."

Luffy took several steps back and saw exactly what she had anticipated; a blank-faced Zeff was extending an arm, having tossed the sack of food to the floor next to them.

She watched with interest as Krieg detailed Zeff's reputation, of how the cook-captain's leg had been so often dyed red from the blood of her enemies, of how the hordes of pirates who had tracked her down believing her weak had soon been forced to realize that being a women had only made her more cruel, more dangerous, watched as the head chef's expression changed not an inch despite the unearthing of her lost career. But when Krieg greedily ordered the cook's journal be relinquished to him, Luffy saw then the immoveable Zeff's eyes narrow defiantly, wrathfully, and saw deep brown pupils burn with the sheer audacity of this intruder. And indeed, Krieg was deserving of all of Zeff's rage and then some, because a captain's journal was such a personal thing, treasured memories of an entire crew bound in leather and glue, and for the man to so crassly demand it... Luffy was amazed at Zeff's composure, because she herself would have decked the bastard already.

She risked a glance at Sanji, wondering how he would react to this disparagement of his mentor. The blond was coiled like a spring, jaw pulled tight, long, slim body tense, and it looked as if he would tear past the hands holding him the moment the next insult on Zeff was uttered. The loss of one of her famed legs clearly weighed on him something unbearable.

"You won't give me the journal, is that it? Then I'll have to make sure you won't run off before I take it," Krieg said, and with a vicious twist of his lips he drew a pistol from the depths of his cloak and cocked it at Zeff's wooden leg.

As Krieg's finger tugged at the trigger, it was the shattered guilt that was beginning to dawn on Sanji's face that finally made her -

Just -

Snap.

"Gomu gomu no _Gatling_."

* * *

Once upon a time, a small boy lived in a small town on a small island in East Blue. He resided with his parents, a mildly successful merchant couple, and the village they called home was calm and idyllic. For the most part, the boy's childhood was content.

Unbeknownst to these villagers, underneath their homes lay an untapped gold mine that eventually brought the land under the attention of men too hungry for riches and with too few moral scruples to stay their hands from razing the town to ashes.

Only one survivor remained from the massacre.

So at the end of it all, with no love left in his heart and nothing else to live for, a ten year old boy vowed to wreak revenge upon the world - at any cost.

* * *

The rugged ground is scarred from the battle that has just taken place. Swords and knives litter the stone floor, layered under wooden debris and discarded bullets and lifeless bodies. The stone walls of the bandit cave hold only further evidence of his lone crusade against the rotten humans who once resided there.

It is done. His family is avenged.

The satisfaction, the victory he has sought for so long, the closure he has longed for, none of it is anywhere to be found. The rage has burnt out of him, and now… Now he feels nothing. All that remains is a pervasive emptiness, a hollowness that sinks into his bones and sloughs like mud in his veins.

He shuffles to the wide mouth of the cave with slow, stumbling steps and tilts his head back. There are no clouds to be found. The sun smolders bright and hot against a soft blue sky but the cheerful sight makes him feel only colder.

A dirt path winds over and down the hill on which he stands. He squints into the afternoon glare and is vaguely startled to see a large figure traveling the path, coming into view from the dip of the land.

It is a great, hulking behemoth of a man that approaches.

He himself is in no state to fight, and it makes him wonder if it would be better if the stranger proves hostile - he would be able to see his family then. If the opposite proves true, well... it is unfortunate, but he doesn't know what he will do with the rest of his life. Survival does not suit him so well without the all-consuming rage that has forced him along until now.

The man comes into focus and he realizes the stranger is limping, and looks too tired besides.

There will be no second battle today, he thinks with nebulous relief. Or perhaps it is instead disappointment that causes his shoulders to slump forward.

As the figure approaches further, tired, haggard eyes meet kin, and each man acknowledges the other. An interminably narrowed gaze flickers past him to survey the graveyard crafted by his hands. There is scrutiny in those eyes, and also a kind of recognition.

He himself cannot help but to register the assemblage of wounds and their effects on the other man's bearing; the limp of a leg, the blood soaking a torn tunic, the exhausted slope of shoulders that bespeak of a heavy burden lifted. Still, the man's spine is straight with pride and dark eyes gleam of victory and of wrongs made right, and he realizes that this, _this_ is exactly how he envisioned himself in the aftermath of his own revenge.

But with a gesture to the spectacle trailing into the open-mouthed cave, the man brings him away from the stirrings of almost-admiration. A deep, thundering voice rasps, "Did you do this?"

Slowly, he nods.

"Follow me."

Lacking motivation for anything else, Gin follows.

* * *

Don Krieg has force of personality and overwhelming charisma. He has grand goals and the determination to achieve them. Everything about Krieg is larger than life, shoulders thrown back, eyes set blazing to the skies - nothing at all like Gin, who always walks slouched, gaze to the dirt, any semblance of a dream long forgotten.

Most importantly, Krieg gives him direction and a reason to live.

If a merciless killing machine is what his captain needs him to be, then so be it. It isn't as if that is such a far stretch from what Gin already is.

* * *

**AN**

:)

Pls don't kill me. :)

Hello people who wanted Gin (_kurobook_) and Krieg (_my lovely darling lilyoftheval aka lily-san_) fleshed out - that last part is for you.

In my version of things, Krieg is the same as Gin in so many ways, and yet unlike Gin, he doesn't despair his hardships, instead rising above them and using his anger as fuel for all his actions. He is determined not to lose to anyone again - at any cost. Sound familiar? Because the boy from once upon a time is not, in fact, Gin.

Anyway, the two had paths that strongly paralleled each other, but when they finally completed their goals, their reactions were so, so very different. Thus leading to the relationship we see in the manga.

It was a little frustrating to have to use "he" and "him" for an entire section, but I didn't want to give away who the character was until the very end. (Though of course, the more canny may have pieced it together before that part. ;)

I'm giving present tense a test run. Tell me what you think.

As a side note: when I said that Luffy was weaker, I meant this in the most physical sense of the word. Everyone is worrying that this Luffy is weak, or weaker than her crew.

No. No. Luffy is _not_ weaker than Zoro or Sanji.

In a strength contest between canon Luffy and Sol!Luffy, canon Luffy will win every time. However, in a no-holds-barred battle between the two, Sol!Luffy will likely win. Why? Because she's smarter, and she _knows_ more. And with that knowledge comes a better understanding of what her body is capable of. And just as, or perhaps more, importantly, she also has knowledge of what her _opponents_ are capable of.

Besides, I said that she is weaker _in comparison_ to canon Luffy, not that she is weak point-blank. As canon Luffy is very very very strong, that gives her a lot of leeway. I.e.: Sanji's legs may be stronger than her legs, and Zoro's arms may be stronger than her arms (as those are where their specializations lay), but in a physical fight she can still beat both of them. :)

By the way, new story up! (Again. Ugh.) It's a One Piece and Naruto crossover, Sakura-centric, called Firefly Dance. Yes, another one of those Sakura falls into OP-world stories - except this one, she's jumped in head first. I only have the prelude up, but here's a preview for the next chapter because I love you guys.

* * *

**Preview****: **_**Firefly Dance**_

**1 - Cotillion**

* * *

Sakura lays on a bed of unfamiliar design, built from some sturdy wood. She is unrestrained, still clothed in her trousers and black shirt, right sleeve torn off, but her shinobi pouch is gone. Her injured arm has been bandaged, though no other medical care applied; it is just as well, as she doesn't need it. She sets her chakra to healing the acid burns.

Across the room is a broad desk under a window. A woman sits there with her back turned, bent over a large book. Her hair is black, glossy and straight, and she is obviously slim, clothed in a deep purple shirt that ends high along her torso and a short skirt of the same hue. Her skin is pale but has begun to tan in a way that says she has been in a desert environment for not quite a year, but more than a month.

Sakura has given no tells towards her woken state, so she considers using the element of surprise. She doesn't mean to attack the woman - there is no reason to suspect her as a hostile - but startling someone often has the convenient effect of catching them off-guard, resulting in a lower chance of dishonesty and increasing the potentiality of being given pertinent information.

That is, until her gaze slides to her right, the only part of the room she has not surveyed, and she sees a single, detached eye blinking at her from the beige wall. It's a woman's eye, large and hooded, the irises a pale blue and the dark teal pupils blown wide.

Sakura is not sure how to react to this. On the one hand, she's fought a god and traveled through realms and can bring back thousands of people from the brink of death in the space of a breath. On the other… it's an eye. And it's not attached to a face. And it's _staring at her_. She settles for laying very, very still and staring back at it.

The eye dissolves into a few drifting cherry blossom petals.

* * *

**Additional AN**

My dear readers and reviewers, I love you all very very much and also the moment I get to 500 followers I'm going to do something about it because wtf that is basically waaaay beyond the max possible followers I ever thought I'd get on one of my stories ever like ever and it's only 15 chapters in wtf what did I do right please tell me so I can do more of it and I'm running on aren't I will stop now (I mean I know there are 5 chapter stories with like 1000+ followers but those authors are _other people_, who have awesome _other people_ skills, and are therefore not mediocre me)

I have absolutely no clue what I should do to celebrate when that point comes though (although it may also not ;w;). Please send in some of your ideas, guys! Nothing too long-term or heavy-effort, but it's basically a thank-you to you peeps, so you should all have a say.

PS- I have a One Piece tumblr. You will likely not regret checking it out. Though there are maybe a few nsfw reblogged pics so maybe take caution, maybe.


	16. Wild Things

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Fifteen: Wild Things**

* * *

A barrage of punches rammed into Don Krieg at such speed that they appeared to have happened all at once, leaving the transient afterimage of innumerable fists fading in the air as the man was hurtled through the broken doors of Baratie and driven directly into the hull of his own galleon. The assault ended only when Krieg's body was enveloped fully into the blackness of the ship and Luffy could no longer see where her fists were landing.

"_Don't you dare_," she snarled in the direction of where she knew the other pirate was. She stalked forward to the open deck of the restaurant, nostrils flaring, eyes blazing with dangerous promise. "Someone like you doesn't get to hurt Sanji's family."

Her forward advance was stopped by the lack of ground on which to stand. Luffy glanced down at the short stretch of water separating her from the ship holding her prey... but found her eyes riveted to her reflection, at her vicious scowl and bared teeth.

She looked... feral. Wild. Inhuman, almost.

Luffy raised a fist up to her eyes and studied it, appraising the straining veins and tightly coiled muscles of her hand and wrist.

_Ah. Oops._

This kind of reaction... it wasn't - Luffy was fond of Sanji, she really was, but he wasn't one of her brothers, he wasn't even properly nakama. Not yet. She hadn't meant to get that angry. She had meant to get pissed to some extent, but the rage shouldn't have affected her to the point that she could barely recognize her own likeness in the water.

And yet -

Sanji wasn't Sabo but in that moment, in that split second, the haze of an evoked memory - of _that_ memory - wouldn't allow her to make the distinction. Luffy had never been one to hold grudges but even she wouldn't forget something like that, wouldn't forget Sabo's terrible, terrible face that day. Couldn't forget, even if she wanted to.

Sanji wasn't Sabo, though. Zeff wasn't Ace.

And she... she wasn't that weak girl from eight years ago who couldn't do anything.

"Gin," called Luffy, her voice carrying well in the silence that had blanketed the restaurant in the face of her sudden attack. It sounded normal enough, which was good.

Gin slowly replied, "Yes?"

She couldn't quite describe it, but his voice was cast with a strange quality that hadn't been there before. He had seen her just now, she knew. Was Gin - was Gin afraid of her?

"Take the food and give it to your crew mates. You don't mind, right?"

Gin said nothing, but the rasping of a sack and the clump of his boots across the deck was sufficient answer. Shaking off her own perturbed state, Luffy brought up a grin and turned back to the rest of the restaurant.

"Sorry," she laughed, eyes crinkled closed. "I got a little angry."

The noirette startled when the hilt of a sword tapped sharply against her forehead, and her eyes flew open to see that Zoro had swiftly moved from his perch all the way across the restaurant to stand behind her instead.

"A _little_ angry," her first mate drawled back, mouth in a sarcastic smirk but gaze concerned. "Of course."

"I'm okay, Zoro." He continued to look unconvinced. "Really," she insisted, and after a moment's pause he gave her a slow nod but didn't lift his heavy scrutiny.

For once, Patty's angry shouts were a very welcome distraction. "Are you satisfied with yourself, Sanji?! Once those pirates get up their strength, they're going to attack this restaurant!"

Murmurs of agreement reverberated through the air from the other cooks. Sanji only drew back against the large main mast, taking no action to defend himself.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled, stepping around Zoro and into the ship main. "Zeff made that food and I let Gin take it, so why are you only getting mad at Sanji?"

"He's the one who started it all," Patty snapped back. "Giving food to that Krieg pirate and then to Don Krieg himself."

"That's enough," Zeff interrupted lowly.

"Owner, why are you taking Sanji's side? He's just trying to destroy this restaurant that's so dear to you - "

"I bet he wants to use this chance to become the next head chef - "

"Or he's just completely lost it - !"

"Silence, you numbskulls!" Red-Leg Zeff barked, her words like a lash. Whatever cutting words the cooks had left on their tongues dissolved in the face of her wrath. "Have any of you ever been hungry enough to die? Do any of you know how terrifying and painful it is, to be stuck in this ocean, deprived of food and water?"

Zeff and the other cooks had more to say but Luffy wasn't quite paying attention anymore, rather contemplating what was taking Krieg so long. Her Gatling wasn't enough to take the guy down, she knew that already, but for some reason he wasn't coming out of his ship. Probably, she thought, he was gathering his forces to press the advantage of numbers - and now that he had an inkling of her abilities he was likely to be thinking of a plan. He was the type for that.

Unfortunately for him, she had a better idea of his arsenal than he did hers.

Krieg could probably tell that speed and flexibility made up a large part of her fighting style, especially with her build. He hadn't had a good look at the stretching of her arms but he would suspect something about the way she had managed to keep punching him even despite the distance. Gatling had only been successful because of how unexpected the attack had been, otherwise he'd have brought out the spiked cape to make her bleed.

With respect to the weaknesses of his armor, Krieg's head and neck and collarbones were unprotected, as were the insides of his elbows and upper arms. Behind the knees would also be a weak point, as she'd already seen him kowtowing. She wasn't sure if he'd lined all of the rest of his legs, but she didn't put it past him to have shielded his crotch too.

The pirate's normal guns were nothing, but his stake machine gun would be troublesome, as would his exploding spear. Due to its limited range, the morning star wouldn't be too much of an issue as long as she avoided it, but the little bombs and shuriken that he had would be annoying to handle. And that gas bomb would have to be dealt with.

Basically, her plan of action was to deal with everything as it came.

It was a very good plan in her opinion. She felt better prepared already.

As did the chefs of Baratie, apparently, since they were all facing the open doors of the restaurant with oversized cutlery for weapons and looking mightily determined.

"Here they come," someone said grimly, as if anyone could miss the roar of stampeding feet. "Brace yourselves! This ship is our restaurant!"

"Move it, you damn cooks!" the first pirate to board bellowed - and then the Dreadnaught Sabre fell to pieces behind him.

"WHA..."

"WHAT?!"

Baratie went into another uproar, even Zeff falling into shock from the sight of an enormous galleon ship seemingly being torn into pieces and sucked into a sudden vortex. Zoro's eyes were blown wide and Sanji's mouth had fallen open a little and even she was taken aback by this spectacle of strength - it was one thing to read it, to know it was coming, but to see it first hand was _just_ \- though she managed to chuckle at the mass of hilarious faces surrounding her anyway.

Luffy tried to adjust her weight as the deck bucked under her but only managed to keep balance by grabbing onto her first mate, who stood steady in the chaos.

"Raise the anchor!" Zeff roared, springing into action. "Or our ship's gonna get pulled under!"

The restaurant exploded into a flurry of movement as the cooks rushed to do as their employer bid. "Yes ma'am!"

Zoro kept his dilated eyes trained on the galleon falling to shambles in front of them as he noted, "How convenient that you sent Merry away earlier. And far enough to avoid this whirlpool."

There was no accusation in his voice, but still Luffy winced. Her nakama was as sharp as he kept his swords.

"You know how Krieg said five thousand of his crew were killed in a week?"

"I remember."

"Gin told me what happened. All those people were beaten by one guy."

His eyes shot to her in disbelief. "_One_ man?"

"Uh-huh."

"A man that strong... so the Grand Line has someone like that. A monster." As the shock died away, Zoro looked contemplative and seemed to have realized something. "A monster...?" he repeated, as if tasting the words. There was a poignant pause, and then some epiphany appeared to have dawned on him, for he continued, "I think I understand. If it were me, I wouldn't feel completely satisfied if one of my prey escaped either. I would have hunted that man down and destroyed him, just to be thorough. And if anything got in the way, or just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, I would destroy that too. So you knew he'd come - and sent both our least combative crewmates temporarily away from the conflict to avoid it, and give us a potential escape if necessary. That's - " he paused and stared at her with new eyes. "Luffy, that's really something."

Zoro looked terribly impressed with her, but in actuality she was far more impressed with him. Despite his rather horrid sense of direction and single-minded focus, her first mate was very smart indeed. She never would have thought of all that. Of course, this display of intelligence was slightly undermined in that he was wrong about her decision to send Merry away, but she was too relieved with the out he had given her to care in the least. She wasn't even sure how she would have explained herself. Now she didn't need to.

It was odd though, that Zoro thought of himself as a monster. It was even odder still that Zoro's thought processes just so happened to be similar enough to Mihawk's that his explanation for the Shichibukai's actions was probably right on point.

"But, wait," her nakama said. "How are you going to tell those two when it's safe to come back?"

Luffy's face went blank. "Uhhhh..."

"You don't know."

"I hadn't thought that far," she confessed.

Zoro knocked her chin up lightly with his thumb and sighed, but she could see his lips quirking up in the corners anyway. "At this point I don't even know if I'm overestimating you or underestimating you."

"Don't you know? If you don't bother with that kind of stuff, you'll have way more fun - "

A shriek rose up into the air, cutting Luffy off mid-sentence.

"It's him! Don Krieg, it's him! The one who destroyed our fleet! He followed us all the way out here, he's come to kill us all!"

A strangely shaped black dinghy floated past the debris from the Dreadnaught Sabre and into vision of the restaurant. A single black sail furled tightly onto a tall mast, supporting a large black seat that had no other protection from the elements.

Luffy could identify exactly when Zoro became aware of the man sitting upon that solitary throne, could feel the rigid lock of his body, the coiling of his muscles, the sheer anticipation that spired in his heart and wreathed his every exhale. The air around him tasted of something that she could almost recognize, a cocktail of shock and excitement and bloodthirst and a little fear too.

"That's the hawk-eyed man," her first mate breathed. "The greatest swordsman in the world."

Zoro suddenly lurched forward, one foot in front of the other, as if he had lost control over his own body. And then he began to lengthen his stride, crossing broken hull and floating planks with the ease of a man walking on packed dirt as he pressed steadily towards Mihawk. She watched his back and bit down on her knuckle.

Zoro had to do this. This was his decision. It wasn't her place to say anything, or try to stop him out of her own selfish desire to see her friends unharmed.

He had to do this.

Luffy took a deep breath through her nose and forced it out all at once. She relaxed her jaw and absently rubbed at the red indentation her teeth had left against her skin as she watched Zoro confront Mihawk. The rest of the restaurant had congregated onto the exterior deck surrounding Baratie as well, gathered to watch the exchange between the swordsmen. Johnny and Yosaku had pushed through the crowd to stand together at her elbow and both were clearly captivated by the spectacle.

"Aniki..." one of the two murmured.

Luffy remained silent, but she didn't dare tear her eyes away. Both Zoro and Mihawk exchanged words, the former veritably vibrating in place with anticipation and the other gazing forward with a blank face and glowing eyes. Both spoke in low, deep tones and though their voices reverberated in the thick air, she could not hear what either of the swordsmen were saying. Zoro glanced back at her once and shook his head, vehemently insisting on something; Mihawk followed his gaze, looking decidedly intrigued.

Her first mate drew his white sword and though she still couldn't hear him, it was clear as day what he meant by it.

"_Fight me_."

The Shichibukai smirked and plucked at the cross hanging from his throat, gazing at Zoro with such condescension that even Luffy jerked forward in protest before she caught herself.

_"It's your death, fool."_

The confrontation began as well as could be expected. Zoro attacked with vicious, vindictive fury and Mihawk used his little knife to disarm, deflect, and otherwise degrade with every word that he spoke.

But -

Even as his body showcased only scorn, even as the few words that spilled from his tongue dripped with disdain, Mihawk's famed eyes remained ever watchful, contemplating the boy throwing himself bodily forward.

And it was only by virtue of such keen scrutiny that both Luffy and Mihawk caught the exact moment the flat of Wado Ichimonji whispered along the furthest corner of the Shichibukai's cloak. The blade did not cut, did not even nick; indeed, there remained no evidence of the brief brush of steel against cloth.

The next moment the Greatest Swordsman's smallest blade drove into Roronoa Zoro's flesh and all eyes were captured by the potentially lethal wound. What had happened the previous moment seemed like nothing in comparison, almost as if the contact had not occurred.

But it _had_ occurred. The two of them, if none other, had borne witness, and both paid such a phenomenon the gravity it was due.

Mihawk pulled short before his blade could plunge into Zoro's heart. Luffy clutched desperately at both Johnny and Yosaku's sleeves and allowed a quick breath to whittle in through her teeth. A full-bodied tremor ran through her bones with the sheer effort needed to keep herself in place. Perhaps the only thing that kept her rooted to logic was the exertion of holding both straining bounty hunters where they stood.

Zoro pressed into the knife and held firm.

"Stupid dumb idiot," Luffy mumbled under her breath, unsure as to whether she was talking about Zoro or herself. She scowled and jerked her head to the side, as if she could tear her eyes away so easily.

"Go get your boat."

"L-Luffy-aneki?" asked Johnny, though his eyes too were glued ahead.

"Your boat. Bring it there," Luffy told them, pointing at the rippling water directly behind Zoro. The both of them hesitated. "Hurry!" she snapped, setting burning eyes on the bounty hunters. They scrambled to do as she bid.

Luffy grit her teeth and forced herself to continue to watch the forging of history.

"If I have to lose, I'd rather die!" her first mate snarled, and though the previous conversation had been too subdued to hear, these words met her ears almost too clearly.

The knife soon returned to its place, and Yoru emerged from its sheath on Mihawk's back. A final interchange of words and Zoro charged forward for the last time, his three swords spiraling through the air in a hypnotic vortex of silver.

The two swordsmen rushed past each other.

Metal screamed loudly against metal.

Steel fell into the sea.

Blood.

Zoro sheathed his only remaining katana and spun to face the encroaching Mihawk with arms spread wide, his entire body left vulnerable to any oncoming attack.

A pulse of frozen time. Zoro's jagged smirk was met with a sharp quirk of lips and a single word.

Yoru sheared the air into two.

Right away Luffy saw that Johnny and Yosaku wouldn't be fast enough. She bit her lip, stricken by the realization that she should have sent them out sooner, she should have been faster about it, because now Zoro would fall into the ocean and there would be no one to catch him.

As Yoru finished its descent and Zoro began his own, Luffy made a split-second decision - she bent her knees, coiled herself tight into her core, agitated the blood running through her veins, and _pushed_.

"Gear... Second."

* * *

A wisp of vapour curled around the plume of Dracule Mihawk's hat as a blur shot over his shoulder. With honed eyes he tracked the flight of the straw hat that had once belonged to his rival, watched its owner stumble a landing and snatch frantically at the falling Roronoa Zoro's haramaki and sword. She caught the boy with her own body and crumpled to the ground with his head cradled in her arms.

"Come on Zoro, wake up for a second. Just one blink, 's all I need..." Tearing off the cloth apron she wore, the girl bent over Roronoa and began to press on the grievous wound across his chest.

"Fear not," Mihawk told her. "That kid is still alive."

_Wounds on a back are a swordsman's shame_, indeed. In exchange for Roronoa Zoro's courtesy towards him, Mihawk had extended a courtesy of his own – the boy's life.

The girl blinked up at him and grinned. "'Course he is. Zoro won't die from something like this. I just thought he might want to be awake for this next part." She sounded so utterly convinced of her own words that even he, with his keen senses, would have been deceived by her confidence - had it not been for the thin sheen of tears filming her eyes and dewing on her lashes. Feeling his gaze, she reached for her face with pale fingers and scowled when they came away wet. "I know he isn't dead, but I can worry if I want, you - you - you _acorn_."

"Hmm," Mihawk responded, feeling vaguely amused. "What is your goal, girl?"

"King of pirates," she answered bluntly.

"King?" He smirked and crossed his arms. "That is a foolish dream; you would have to surpass even I, you understand."

"So?" she asked, giving him a glance that seemed to convey a volume of words. Then she stuck her tongue out. "I'll make it happen. Just watch me."

A ragged cough spat wetly into the air.

"L-Luffy..."

"Zoro!" the girl yelped, eyes snapping back down to her lap. Her hands hovered uselessly over Roronoa's face as he laboriously parted his lips and began to speak.

"A...corn...isn't...an...insult...stu-pid..." the boy rasped out. Mihawk could see him struggling to find his sword, fingers scrabbling against splintered wood in search of the hilt.

"Shut up," Akagami's chosen shot back with a weak half-grin, her voice thick with relief. "It is if I say so." She lightly smacked both hands against blooded cheeks in a sort of reprimand.

As his palm fell over the hilt of the Wado Ichimonji, the boy's eyelids slipped closed again.

"...Ow."

Mihawk allowed a single bark of laughter to escape him. If the kid had enough energy to say such ridiculous things, he'd be fine.

"My name is Dracule Mihawk," spoke he, golden gaze intent on the young man with such potential. "It is too soon for you to die, kid. You have much to learn about the world and about your true self. To become stronger you must practice not only your skill, but also your heart. You must become stronger, Roronoa, for no longer how long it will take, I will always be the 'Greatest Swordsman in the World', and I will be waiting for you! Dare to challenge me again, Roronoa Zoro!"

"Dracule Mihawk..." the boy exhaled softly. "...Bet on it."

Slowly, ever so slowly, the other swordsman gripped his remaining sword and drew it from its sheath. The rest of his body shook from the exertion but his sword rose steadily towards the sun and did not waver. "Luffy... you're such a crybaby." Roronoa gave a strangled chuckle and blood dribbled down his jaw. "Even though I already knew you would... I'm sorry... for making you cry over me. If I can't become an Invincible Swordsman... you'll only cry more, huh?" Another grisly cough wracked his body but still he pressed on. The girl said nothing, only watched the drip of his tears with a dawning smile. "From now on... I won't lose to anyone ever again! Until I can defeat that man and become the Greatest Swordsman! I swear it... _**Never again will I be defeated**__!_"

A stillness pressed upon the lungs of all witnesses. The sea pulsed once in acknowledgment of this oath. Mihawk found himself smiling wide and did nothing to quell the loud show of emotion.

"Do you have any problems, future Pirate King?"

"Nope!" replied the so-called 'future Pirate King', with a grin that split her face wide and crinkled her nose.

A sort of warmth burned from within her, and Mihawk took this chance to properly assay the child Akagami no Shanks had chosen as not only his own successor, but also the successor of the late Pirate King - because that worn, frayed straw hat was a claim, a crown, and a promise.

It said, _I hold this one in high regard. _

It said, _I trust this one not to bring shame to my name._

It said, _I have faith that this one will make me proud._

Most importantly, it said, _I believe in this one._

And wasn't that quite the interesting picture to be painting? Akagami had returned to the New World without his signature straw hat ten years ago, when this girl would have been but a young child. What an impression she must have made, for Akagami to have named her a worthy heir to the throne at such an age. It was entirely up to the girl to claw her way up to that exalted title of King, but Shanks had put his conviction in the success of this one child in particular, and that told a story all of its own.

She was small, this girl, and thin-boned. Her wrists and ankles seemed too easy to bend, too easy to break, and Mihawk could almost understand why Don Krieg now watched her as a predator would its prey.

But he understood much more intuitively how she had brought such a wild dog as Roronoa Zoro to heel.

Only fools believed that size gave a weapon power. Perhaps Yoru gave his words the appearance of irony, but in his hands, the tiny blade hanging from his throat was just as dangerous as any O Wazamono grade Meito. It was the skill of the wielder that truly coaxed out the power of a weapon.

And thus, whereas others may see this girl as something fragile and easily shattered, Mihawk saw something far different. In that slim body he heard the sharp crack of a whip, the whisper of a blade cutting through mountains.

This stagnant world was far due for a bit of a churning, after all. Yes, she was still weak, but one day she would come into her own... and wouldn't that be quite the sight to behold?

So he would await her arrival in Grand Line along with this boy, this young man who swore such fervent allegiance to Akagami's chosen. He held the sort of fire that would scald everything in his path if fostered to its fullest potential, and though the boy may have been almost brutish in his mannerisms, in the way he bore himself against the world, he was not without skill or discipline. He carried the fortitude and pride that this path necessitated, but most of all, he had that indomitable _spirit_.

And if Akagami could pick and choose favourites amongst the rookies, then he would not hesitate either. And though his mark was not quite as conspicuous, not quite as prominent, it would serve its purpose, would remind Roronoa of his drive with every ache and burn.

Perhaps it would truly take years upon years, but Mihawk was nothing if not patient.

He could wait.

* * *

**AN**

FOUR MONTHS I SOWWY

NO KILL TORA PLS

ILY

The first part of this chapter was just ajsdkjfaksdF? because I had a hell of a time trying to continue this chapter after the whole punching Krieg in the face thing. Guh.

Haramaki - Zoro's green sash thingy.

"Wounds on a back are a swordsman's shame". Unlike popular translation, this doesn't mean that having wounds on his back would be Zoro's shame - it means that striking someone's back would be _Mihawk's _shame. So actually Zoro was considering Mihawk's pride when he said this, even though getting slashed across the front would in most likelihood be more fatal for Zoro.

I've been sitting on this one chapter for ages, and I'm so sick of it; I can't stand to read it over for errors. If I made any offensive spelling or syntax errors here, I'd love to know so I can fix them asap. It'd be great if the first few readers could alert me about whatever I missed during writing.

**Reviews **(woah, it's been awhile since I've done this)

Trololololololol: I AM NOT BLUSHING. DON'T THINK THAT MADE ME HAPPY, YOU BASTARD! / (_ajskdfadfkjsdfthankyousomuchilu_)

Animefreak1145: Thanks for your long review, you really made my day! And you gave me an idea for the 500 follower thing (though it's 600 now) :3

Everyone I haven't responded directly to: THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS YOU GUYS ( -aggressively throws hearts at everyone- x) Even if I don't say anything, I read reviews the very moment they ding into my email inbox, and I love every single one of them.


	17. Tachypsychia

**Sol Invictus**

**Chapter Sixteen: ****Tachypsychia**

* * *

"Eggplant."

"Stop calling me that, you - "

"Sanji." The blond teen stilled, acknowledging the gravitas in Zeff's voice. "The years are setting into my bones, and the sea is not a kind mistress. I'll have to keel over at some point, and we won't be able to do anything about it. You know it too. I want you to swear one thing to me. I want you to promise that you're not gonna let yourself be killed before that. You're gonna leave Baratie to its fate, whatever that may be. You're gonna go find All Blue. And I don't want to hear any bullshit from the afterlife about how you're doing it for me. You're gonna do it for yourself, whether you want to or not, you hear?"

"No fucking way. You shitty old geezer, are you crazy? You're not going to die, do you think I'd let you?!"

"The hell are you calling a shitty old geezer, you little shit," she huffed back, but there was little fire to her words. "Just get on with it."

And though Sanji protested even the mention of her death, swore up and down a mad frenzy, she ignored him as if he had never spoken until finally,

"Fine," Sanji spat. "But if you don't die, then it doesn't matter anyway. So don't you dare kick the bucket over something stupid like a heart attack, old hag."

"Just for that, I'm gonna have steak for dinner this whole week."

"That's - that's _cheating_!"

"Pirate," she told the boy smugly, turning and clunking back into the kitchen.

Fifteen year old Sanji seethed and went to pick a fight with Patty, his eyes hot and uncomfortable.

* * *

The two bounty hunters paddled their boat towards her vigorously, tears streaming from their eyes.

"Luffy-aneki! We saw it all!" Yosaku sobbed. "Is Zoro-aniki alright?"

"Alright is a bit of a stretch, but he's still alive," she told them, and then pointedly continued, "He'd be even _more _alive if he gets some medical attention soon."

They jumped to action; Johnny and Yosaku delicately transferred Zoro into the boat, away from the major threat at her back, and a box of first aid materials was snatched from the cabin. In the aftermath of their frantic movements, a single feather drifted to rest beside her hand, cut cleanly at its stem. She stared at it.

Mihawk wasn't like Shanks. He wouldn't bother with such trivial shows of sentiment... but without a doubt, this was from the Shichibukai's plume. Had Zoro actually managed to…? Luffy cautiously picked the feather up with two fingers and bent her head back to see Mihawk watching her thoughtfully. "Such a bond is not easily forged," he remarked. "Much time must have passed since your first meeting, or else a trial of great peril."

"Not really," she replied, though truthfully she meant '_Not yet_'. "I found Zoro less than a month ago, and we've only met weaklings so far."

Ringed yellow irises narrowed on her, and in a low voice Mihawk murmured, "Then… that power, if cultivated properly… Yes, it may even be possible for this one."

"What?" Luffy asked, confused.

"It is of no concern to you," the Shichibukai intoned. He tilted his head towards her in farewell and turned abruptly on his heel. "I shall inform Akagami of your current status. If you have strength enough, you will survive the tumult of the Grand Line. I shall look forward to the day we find one another again, for I have faith we will meet once more on that sea."

"We will," she agreed, managing another half-grin before Don Krieg jumped in and attempted to goad Mihawk into a confrontation. In the chaos, she bent towards Johnny and murmured, "The Going Merry is anchored approximately a mile towards the north. Take Zoro and go tell Nami and Usopp to sail back in fifteen minutes. I'll be done by then."

Panic making his voice rise, Johnny replied, "Luffy-aneki, you mean to fight Don Krieg by yourself? And you think it'll only take fifteen minutes?!"

"Oh no," she told him, with a cheeky smirk. "Krieg'll only take me ten minutes. I just need another five for the clearing up."

Johnny's mouth opened and closed in an attempt to offer response to her brazen claim; finding nothing, he merely blinked and passed the message to Yosaku. The both of them began to row off as Mihawk forced the sea airborne with his sword. Masked by the spray of water and falling debris, Luffy pulled herself towards the porch of the Baratie with a single stretch of arms, Zoro's new souvenir tucked into her hat ribbon.

"Sooo," she began, her face and arms propped up on the railing as the rest of her dangled over the ocean. "If I get rid of these guys, I can stop working here, right?"

"Do what you want," Zeff told her. The woman's dark eyes flicked once to Sanji, and Luffy nodded. She could indeed leave, but the head chef was still relying on her to free Sanji from his own shackles.

Fair enough. She already had no intention of getting back on Merry without Sanji as her new chef.

Luffy observed the cooks milling around the dining room, confirming with her own eyes that each and every one of them was unharmed and at full strength. Half the reason she'd stopped Krieg from his counter attack against Patty was because of this, because she didn't want to concern herself over these guys when she was focused on the other captain.

The other half was to get him riled up right and proper.

Satisfied with what she saw, Luffy hopped over the railing and grabbed the quietly departing Patty and Carne by their sleeves.

"Say, aren't you two amongst the best fighters of Baratie?" she asked innocently.

Patty puffed up in pride, and Carne nodded empathically. "We are indeed!"

"But you aren't gonna fight?"

"Of course we are," Patty scoffed. "What do you take us for, cowards? We have a secret weapons, so don't worry yourself, kid."

Luffy twitched but nonetheless continued with her coaxing. "But is it a weapon that any other of the cooks can operate? I would personally think it best for the top fighters to be leading the frontal attack, don't you?"

The both of them paused and stared at each other.

"It's true that Mackerel Head No. One could technically be operated by anyone - "

"Who knows what trouble these guys could get into with us gone - "

"We're definitely gonna be needed out here - "

"And who'll protect Owner Zeff? Certainly not Sanji - "

The duo stared at each other for a beat longer and then simultaneously turned and each grabbed cooks of their own preference.

"_Hey, you…_"

Luffy snickered to herself before shuffling off and sidling up next to Zeff.

"Unlike those two idiots, I actually have a brain. You're not as subtle as you think you are, kid," the older woman said, shooting her a look that was two parts amused and one part exasperated. "I don't need it."

"I am too subtle," Luffy sulked. "And - just in case, okay?" Zeff grunted noncommittally, but still did not return the stolen item Luffy had slipped into her chef's coat.

Her side of the chessboard was set.

Ten minutes. That was the maximum length of time Luffy was willing to spend on this asshole. It was also the maximum length of time she could continue to stave off her faltering strength. After that, her body would begin to actively protest its abuse, and at fifteen minutes she would be facing imminent collapse. She'd much prefer to make sure all of the threats were neutralized by then, including Gin and Pearl.

Shoving large chunks of meat from customer's abandoned plates into her mouth, Luffy rolled her shoulders and shook out her limbs. Her body wasn't optimized for Gear Second, not as it was right now; resources went largely squandered as the pressure of her bloodstream forced her cells to absorb more nutrients than could be used at any one time, and then to expel them as waste from an inefficient production of excess energy. Her cells hadn't yet learned how to maximize the efficiency of the technique, and she'd never had a battle that would forcefully beat the lesson into them. She'd wasted a lot of the stores in her body on that short spurt, and she didn't have any time for the feast she'd need to replenish them. This would have to do.

"Little girl," Krieg growled when Luffy emerged, hatless, from the doorway. A faint bruise was beginning to swell rosy red along his cheekbone and she felt oddly gratified by the sight. "You should have run when you had the chance."

"The one who should've run is you," Luffy threw back, stepping onto the raised fins of the restaurant. "You say you're the strongest man, but you know, you ran away from Grand Line like a wimp. My gramps could send you flying you with a pinky."

Which was the truth, now that she thought of it.

"You dare... You _dare_..."

She interrupted him with a scoff, and watched as the noise visibly set Don Krieg's blood to boiling. "Sure I dare. Why should I be afraid of you? You're just a weak bully. You only think you're strong cos' you have a lot of people on your side, and because of your cheap tricks. By yourself, in a fair match, you're _nothing_."

Krieg thrust his shoulders back and roared as he brandished double-barreled pistols at her. The plates on his shoulders and along his torso burst open, and mounted machine guns began to spew bullets at her.

Luffy charged directly into the projectiles with both arms extending behind her, ignoring the alarmed cries of, "Her arms are stretching!" from behind and Krieg's shocked bark of, "A devil fruit user!" The sight of her stretching limbs prompted him to quickly change tactics; he snatched a handful of black spheres from within his cloak and flung them at her en masse. The impact shook her foothold, forcing her to leap forward onto another plank of wood to maintain momentum; in doing so, however, one of the small pellets grazed her side and detonated.

Luffy did not stumble, did not allow it to slow her pace even as Don Krieg burst into raucous laughter. She merely grinned into the resulting shroud of smoke and continued forth, blood running in a thin stream over her hip, down her leg, and slipping through the twined straw of her sandals to leave a faint red print against the wood.

When she cut the distance between the two of them to a mere few feet, she hissed, "Gomu gomu no bazooka," and burst out of the smoke, driving both her arms forward as hard as she could. They hurtled through the air, bringing along bullets hidden in the nooks and crannies of her skin that returned to Krieg with more force than they had been shot. He had less than a breath to cover his face with both arms but it was futile in the end: that wasn't where she was aiming. At the very last moment, she crooked her elbows, and her palms flew past each other to slam into the open plates on his shoulders.

The moment the machine guns had emerged, Luffy had realized something. In order for these shoulder plates to swing open as they did, they had to be attached to the armor main through some sort of hinge or latch or clasp. She already knew they were detachable, which told her that the aforementioned clasps were designed to give way under sufficient force. While the plates themselves may be extremely sturdy, they were constructed with the purpose of separating from their perch, and that spoke volumes of the strength of their fastenings or the relative lack thereof. Most importantly, the left plate had quivered upon springing open. She must have struck it by accident earlier, when she had accidentally allowed her temper to grab ahold of her, and if a stray fist was enough to do such damage, her next strike may even...

_There_.

Her nerves sparked when she felt the plate under her right palm give way, but not quite enough to remove it entirely. Luffy grabbed the furred rim with a hand and her entire body surged onto Krieg's shoulder, hopping easily over a thrown fist. She managed to finally tear the plate from its cracked latchings and hurl it into the sea, as far as she could. Her other hand, braced against the other plate, she drove palm first into the broken deck, her foot crooked over Krieg's throat…

Only to greet iron spikes with the back of her head.

Both Luffy and her opponent slammed onto wood, the noirette from the impact against her skull and Krieg from the foot hooked across his neck and the hand still caught in his remaining shoulder plate.

Luffy was quickly forced to roll away to avoid a glut of fire to the face. In exchange, she wrapped her hand around the chain to the morning star and _yanked_ as she vaulted onto a fallen mast. Having not expected this, Krieg's grip was looser than it would have been, and she managed to tear the entire length away from his hands.

She had a split second to determine whether to throw the weapon back at him or to discard it altogether, realized that the spikes would have little to no effect on the Wootz Steel, and decided that she had no desire to participate in the tug-of-war that would likely result. Instead she swung it at a congregation of pirates piled on a piece of deck, breaking their foothold and probably several bones as the spiked iron sphere collided into them and sunk into the sea.

The noirette promptly hopped to her feet and scrambled back along the mast to avoid the spikes flying at her legs and feet.

"You…" Krieg snarled. "You… _you_…" His face was an unhealthy hue, and he seemed to have been made inarticulate with rage, either unable to choose between the flood of vulgarities to curse her with or having nothing at all that would sufficiently express the state of his wrath.

Luffy took a moment to catch her breath and gauge her next plan of action.

For all of Krieg's physical strength, he had none of the speed or dexterity that Kuro, or even Buggy, did. Two of the bullets she had collected from his onslaught had grazed his face, leaving one shallow cut across the burgeoning bruise on his cheek and another over his eyebrow, oozing blood that would catch in his lashes and leak into his eyes. Another deep red mark, soon to turn a shade of purple, bloomed under his jaw where her foot had caught him, and lazy brooks of blood ran vibrant through the dull tint of his hair.

She had rid him of his greatest weapon - bar the poison gas - before he'd even had the chance to use it, rid him of another weapon after a single strike, and had proved two other weapons to be entirely impotent against her. And yes, the back of her head was bleeding, but so was his. She'd dragged his pride through the dirt, left a loud, rude mark on his face, and slammed his head into the pieces of his own deck, but the two wounds he had given her barely even bled, had not even been enough to make her flinch - or so he would believe.

Without knowing her specific abilities, he wouldn't know that she was tightening the strands of rubber-skin around and under the wound in her side to staunch the bleeding, nor that she was capable of temporarily suppressing any and all pain. It would be enough to drive anyone mad with anger, let alone such a volatile tyrant.

Not too shabby for a four minute interval. What she needed, now, was to enrage him so completely that he would use the MH5 regardless of any consideration towards worth or waste. She needed the poison to dissipate before her nakama returned, and most preferentially before her ten minutes were up.

"_Me_," Luffy finally chirped, giving Krieg a smug smirk.

She rapidly scuttled back further to avoid another furious tempest of spikes, twisted to hang upside down from the mast when several spikes sped too close to her ear, and dropped to her feet onto a piece of driftwood near enough to Baratie that she could leap back onto the fins if she needed. Krieg wouldn't be able to reach her unless he was willing to follow after her, which would provide her with a good gauge of how angry she'd really made him, or if he chose to utilize his gas bomb, which was what she wanted anyway. In the meantime she allowed herself a quick scan of the battle being waged on the restaurant proper.

The cooks had maintained an extremely efficient front, with Patty and Carne continuing to lead a brigade of chefs in a mass attack against the remaining two-thirds of Krieg's skeleton crew, the Mackerel Head cleverly keeping its distance and bombarding isolated groups of pirates from afar, and Sanji occupying Pearl and Gin simultaneously with a battery of kicks and the intermittent pirate to the face. Any stray enemy who managed to make it past the army of cooks, circumvent the volley of cannonballs, and avoid being made into collateral by the three-person affray were met with a wooden leg to the head, neck, or groin - or all three. And while there were bodies adorned in white coats among the fallen, still the Baratie chefs were doing quite well for themselves.

Gin and Pearl glanced at each other, and a sense of disquiet suddenly burst to life somewhere deep in Luffy's belly. She hopped onto the restaurant deck and made to approach either Sanji or Zeff - she wasn't sure which of the two warranted this uneasiness but she had to do something, _anything_ \- when several black pellets landed around her. She instinctively leapt away, eyes shooting to the side - and, indeed, Krieg was now far closer than he had been before. The deck where she had been standing exploded in a spray of wood and water, and rather than risk an unseen attack, she reached towards the lowest corner of Baratie's sail, high over her head, and pulled herself away. Below, she could see the disaster beginning to unfold. As Pearl burst into flames in an attempt to distract Sanji, Gin shot to Zeff with a weighed tonfa spinning in one hand and a pistol hanging off the other.

Luffy scuttled onto the railing of a balcony and launched herself towards the battle on the deck, barely scrambling between the spears that broke through the curtain of wet debris and left weeping red welts on her skin as they passed. "_Come-on-come-on-come-on_," she hissed under her breath, her heart thundering like feet against wooden planks.

She could see Sanji's attempts to follow Gin's sudden leave being foiled by a flaming hand-shield. His lips curled around words that were likely more uncomplimentary than not, and he lashed out with a black boot that slid like water between Pearl's raised shields and smashed directly into the pirate's uncovered face. Pearl shrieked and promptly descended into hysterics at the blood leaking from his new injury, but Sanji ignored him to chase Gin, who was raising the pistol and aiming it at Zeff's wooden leg. Something gave a sharp crack.

Everything around Luffy slowed to a crawl.

Zeff's prosthetic fractured and fell away at its base. Luffy finally reached the end of the veranda and leapt off; behind Sanji, Pearl smashed his flaming hand-shields against his main body and howled, "DANGER!", flinging his arms open in preparation to bombard flaming pellets at Sanji's exposed back. Gin, now only a few feet away, raised his tonfa, knowing that when Zeff dodged the blow she would have no choice but to fall to her hands and knees, putting her in enough of a vulnerable position to give him an easy hostage. Sanji cussed and put on a burst of speed, parts of the deck splintering under the force of his feet.

Zeff made no move to avoid Gin's oncoming attack and instead raised an arm, fingers curled comfortably around Luffy's earlier gift. Several booming reports rang out as Sanji finally reached Gin and bodily tackled him to the floor.

The world sped back up as three things happened, all at once.

One, Pearl tottered for a moment and then crumpled to the ground, his body limp.

Two, Krieg, his face twisted in a snarl, fired several rounds of stakes at Zeff.

Three, Luffy slammed into the deck, feet first.

A trickle of blood dripped onto wood, and Luffy's mouth curled into a feral grin.

* * *

**AN**

SOL IS AT OVER 1K FOLLOWERS, IT HAS A GODDAMN TV TROPES PAGE, HOW IS THIS REALITY, OMFG PEOPLE WHY ARE YOU ALL SO BEAUTIFUL

I freaking love you all so much, you have no idea how much I love you guys, you're the absolute best and I have no clue what I've done to deserve this with my shitty ass writing gaaAAHHH

BUT SERIOUSLY HOW IS THIS REALITY THANK YOU FOR LOVING THIS STORY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I COULD KISS YOU MWAHH

Sorry for the huge wait, and also for how short this chapter is in relation to that length of time, AND ALSO THE CLIFFY, I just wanted to get it up quickly while I'm still all hyped up about this.

_Notes_:

\- I haven't double checked the last bit of this before posting, so there may be some typos.

\- Red meat increases your chances of a heart attack.

\- About that Zeff scene…. hahahahahahaha think what you want I bask in your panic

\- I was suddenly struck by a thought while doing the dishes. What if Alvida was actually a male (in this fic)? The reason everyone calls her _Lady_ Alvida is because she's transgender, and since she's originally really monstrous looking (so ugly she transcends gender), no one can tell the difference anyway. And then she eats the slip slip fruit and reappears in Logue Town looking very pretty-boy/handsome and hitting on Luffy because she's a masochist in canon, apparently. So Luffy's like, "Huh. Interesting." And everyone else who knows of Iron Mace Alvida would know her as a woman (including Smoker) and they would also be all, "_What_." And then she would pose dramatically and bask in the attention (read: chaos and confusion). Of course I won't actually do this because… it sounds like a lot of work and I don't know anything about being a transgender person so don't want to mess things up. (BUT THIS REALLY APPEALS TO ME SO MAYBE I WILL?)

\- I have a toraffles main tumblr now, purely for personal use and separate from Queen Luffles. Username 'toraffles' [link on my profile]. If you're a fan of KHR, or a fan of Sol Invictus, or a fan of my writing in general, come talk to me! I need friends, it's so lonely over there. D: Jokes aside, there are some Sol and La Conflagrazione (my newest KHR fem!Tsuna fic) notes over on my blog, as well as new story ideas, little scenes, etc. so come check it out if you want.

**Important Author's Note**

I'm actually thinking of doing a celebratory event for reaching 1k (GAH), but I don't have the time or commitment to write a side fic or a full-length omake, so I'm thinking of maybe asking you guys to send me requests so I can write little [non-canon] scenes for you, or give tiny spoiler tidbits to anyone who asks (if you want to be spoiled, or not if you don't, but this will necessarily have to be a limited number so I don't give away the entire plot), maybe let you guys suggest scenes/events that you really wanna see happening in the fic so I can take them into consideration.

Choosing between one of the options above is basically what I used to offer to every hundredth milestone until I got lazy, haha, but now it's available for all of you to take advantage of. But I'm not sure if I should host the event on my Queen-Luffles tumblr or my Toraffles tumblr. I'm leaning towards the latter just because I'm far more active on it, even though QL is my onepiece-centric blog.


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